The Uchiha Curse
by S-angelwings-S
Summary: The Uchiha family has a secret curse that no one knows about.however sakura meets Sasuke in his cursed form and confides in him. Circumstances lead to Sakura living in the Uchiha household bringing Sasuke and Sakura closer...
1. Chapter 1

A/N:-

Well this is my first fic so please keep that in mind. oh and reviews will e highly appreciated thank you ^-^

Please enjoy...

**Disclaimer: I Do NOT own naruto, or its characters. I only own the plot...**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was irritated, more so than usual. the cause for his unusually sour mood, more like causes, were that first off, it was the first day of school after three months of summer vacation, and off course no normal student would be glad to be back. He remembered oh so clearly that just a few months back, he had given his major O level exams, and now having to study A levels, which were definitely much harder than O levels, was ticking him off slightly. It was the difficulty of his studies that bothered him, no, in fact anyone who knew Sasuke would know that he'd excel in whatever he did; it was a gift. In fact he was more worried about how his dumb blonde friend would keep pestering him throughout the year about helping him study. Sasuke was a genius, but Naruto, his annoying, loud, dobe of a best friend was lousy at school so he'd always pester Sasuke for help.

Speaking of the dobe, he was currently sitting next to Sasuke, conversing, rather loudly with Kiba. The stupid idiots were screaming their heads off about being glad to be back or something. In fact the whole class was ecstatically yapping away, due to their sensei's tardiness. That was another cause for Sasuke's aggravation. It was the last lesson for the day and their teacher was fifteen minutes late.

However, these were all minor causes for Sasuke's foul mood. The real reason had its roots somewhere else….

Sasuke glanced outside the window for the fifteenth time in those fifteen minutes and glared at the site.

"_Dark clouds…..Shit! It's going to rain." _Sasuke glared at the sky, and glanced at the clock yet again. "_What! It's only been twenty seconds since I last looked at the time. How is that even possible? Man, why can't the lesson just end before it rains…." _Sasuke thought angrily.

"Hey Sasuke!" The annoying blonde's voice rang in his ears, "You idiot are you even listening to me?" Naruto started flailing his arms in front of Sasuke's face.

A vein popped in Sasuke's head and he spoke, in a dangerously low voice, "Naruto…would it kill you to SPEAK QUIETLY ONCE IN A WHILE!" Sasuke almost yelled out the last part.

"Geez teme you're the one who's yelling. I was only asking you if you'd help me study this year too, but obviously you're not in a mood to talk."Naruto replied, rather teasingly. "What's gotten you so riled up anyway?" He asked, slightly concerned with Sasuke's behavior.

"It's going to rain."Sasuke answered plainly, turning his head back to the window.

"What!"Naruto screamed in disbelief, "Don't tell me dear little Sasu-chan is afraid of getting wet? Hahahahaha!" Sasuke's fist made contact with Naruto's head, "OUCH! Teme I was only kidding. Seriously though I thought you liked the rain…"Naruto said while rubbing the bump on his head.

"Yeah I used to."Sasuke replied curtly. That is until the Uchiha curse kicked in.

"Well relax, it's not like the rain will affect you when you're indoors right?"Naruto replied and turned his attention to the door through which their teacher finally cringed as he recognized their Math sensei: they had Kakashi again this entered the class with an apologetic look on his face, and though it was hard to tell due to the mask covering his face,Sasuke could tell that Kakashi was smiling.

The class exploded into exclamations of something along the lines of "You're late Kakashi-sensei!", but Sasuke wasn't really paying attention. His attention was diverted once again to the window, where the first few drops of rain had already hit the ground.

_Well at least I still have fifteen minutes before the curse kicks in. _Sasuke sighed. He used to love the rain, up until his last birthday, that is up until he turned seventeen. That's when the Uchiha curse had started. Now, every time it rained, after about fifteen minutes since the first rain drop pelted the ground, Sasuke would feel the curse taking over his body. Every cell in his body would start to tingle, until Sasuke would transform into a…..

"Awwww maaaaan!"Naruto whined, bringing Sasuke out of his train of thoughts.

Sasuke glanced around the class and saw everyone was wearing frowns and groaning.

_What did Kakashi say anyway that everyone's whining?_ Sasuke wondered.

"Sorry class but ...Uh you know the principal said so and well…you all know that she's someone you can't argue with." Kakashi apologized sincerely, and then cleared his throat loudly in order to get the class' attention, "Anyway, the new seating list will be put up on the teacher's desk tomorrow so you will sit accordingly starting tomorrow."

_So that's what these goofs were whining ! To think they should have grown up by now I mean what's so bad about a seating list, there are a lot worse things that can happe…_The downside of Kakashi's words hit him like a bolt of lightning._Shit what if I get stuck with one of my.._, he gulped,_ fan girls…No! _Sasuke mentally screamed. He noticed that the class was back to chattering away, they must have conned Kakashi into giving a free lesson.

Soon enough the bell rang and everyone practically jumped out of sighed in relief, there were still a few minutes to spare before the curse would transform him. At least his secret was safe… for now…

Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and, to Sasuke, the room suddenly grew bigger. He pounced on the windowsill, on all four of his furry paws, and jumped out, landing safely on his feet..Er.., the curse had taken over and now Sasuke, in his cat form, was bounding down the footpath, wondering what he should do to kill the hour.

* * *

Sakura ran down the footpath, the rain pouring down quite heavily now. Her pink hair was near drenched, while her uniform was clinging to her. She cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella with her, because now she had to suffer through the chilly wind that was blowing at her already wet form. Although it was only the beginning of September, it was actually getting pretty cold…_Or maybe it's just my stupid fault for not bringing an umbrella._ Sakura reprimanded herself. She turned around a corner and ran into a dark alley. A shiver ran down her spine as she neared the end of the alley, not from the cold, no, there was a different reason….

Coming closer to the end of the alley, one could observe a small flight of stairs, three to be exact, and there was a shade over them. Sakura slowed down to a walk as she neared the door to her house. Hesitantly she opened the door, only to be greeted by darkness. Sakura gulped, she had known something bad was going to happen when she entered the alley leading to her house. It was her uncle's temper that had made her shiver a few seconds ago….

"**SAKURA! You stupid girl!** Didn't you pay the electricity bill yesterday?" her uncle yelled angrily at her, causing another shiver to run down Sakura's spine.

"Uncle I-I went y-yesterday, b-but it was too late and their office was closed, s-so..." Sakura stammered.

"I don't want your excuses!" he yelled, "Just give me the bill and I'll go pay, since you can't be expected to do anything right." He reprimanded her, and angrily stormed off to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Sakura sighed and grabbed the bill off the table lying in the kitchen. She knew her uncle had only escaped into the room to smoke, that's what he always did. Hurrying to her small room, she changed her clothes and grabbed an umbrella. Opening the door to leave her small house, she saw a pair of onyx eyes staring up at her curiously.

Sakura smiled at the little cat that was sitting at the door, the cat was drenched, and slightly trembling. She knelt down and attempted to stroke the cat, who complied and let her slide her hand across it's wet body. The cat slowly became at ease with her touch and nuzzled its nose against her pants leg.

"Aw, what's a sweet little cat doing out here in this dirty place?" Sakura asked the little, black colored fur ball. The cat just purred in response, looking up at the pink haired girl.

Sakura slid down against the door, and made herself comfortable on the steps. She then held the cat and placed it on her lap.

"You poor thing, you're absolutely wet!" she exclaimed, "Well at least this way you can get a little warm." She said while stroking the cat. The cat gave her an inquiring look and then glanced at the door she was leaning against, as if asking Sakura about what had happened inside. Sakura smiled sheepishly and said "Oh well... My uncle is just... You could say he's still in stress due to his life's circumstances..." Her statement earned a curious meow from her little companion.

Suddenly Sakura's body began to shiver, and she removed her hand from the cat and placed it to her side, clenching it tightly into a fist. A wet liquid ran down the side of her cheek, causing the fur ball to climb up to her face and stare at her shocked. Sakura wiped her face and smiled at the cat, whose concerned eyes were staring intently at her own green orbs. The cat suddenly nuzzled it's nose against her cheek.

"Well I have no idea where those tears just came from…But you know, after all these years, I really want to talk to someone." Sakura sighed and continued rather quietly, "My parents died when I was in eighth grade and ever since then I've been living with my uncle. The only reason he adopted me was because his own wife died about the same time as my parents. So after their death I've been living in this small place. My uncle can only afford to pay the rent of this place so we have to make due with this little apartment. It's not so bad though, I mean at least I have a place to live but it would be better if uncle would give up his smoking and drinking habits." The cat looked at her and meowed. "You see…Ever since his wife died, uncle's been depressed so he resorted to these things. Plus he makes me pay the bills and all so one slip up, and automatically the blame's on me." Sakura smiled bitterly, "Anyway, my uncle's really strict. Did you know I haven't had anyone come over to my place since eighth grade? Yep, it's because uncle doesn't allow it. There isn't much to show my friends in there anyway…" Sakura trailed off, her tone melancholic as she told her tale, but then a bright smile appeared on her face and she continued, "But I'm not going to let all this get to me. I mean, I can go to school, and I don't have to live in the orphanage y'know? And one day I'm going to change our lives for the better, it may take a while, but I've promised myself that one day, I'm going to make my own life better." Sakura's smile was still plastered on her face as she scratched the ears of the little fur ball.

Suddenly the cat jumped out of Sakura's lap, earning a surprised yelp from the girl, and nodded at her and scurried away.

_Hmm...He must've had somewhere to go to._ Another smile made its way on her face as she whispered a quiet "Thank you", and got up to her feet. Checking her watch, Sakura opened up her umbrella and headed over to the office, hurrying. After all she had her own job to go to later…

* * *

Sasuke scurried away, out of the alley that he had been in earlier and climbed up the nearest tree. It had been almost an hour since he had turned into a cat, and it was almost time for the curse to undo itself. He sat in the tree and pondered over all that he had heard from the girl. He hadn't expected any of it… originally he had seen a flash of pink hurrying into an alley and recognized it as Sakura, a girl in his class. He had decided to follow her out of curiosity, and then his kitty ears had picked up on yelling coming from behind a door, which Sasuke had assumed was her house. Sasuke had stood at the steps in order to hear a little better. He had intended to run away the minute the girl saw him, but that's when his cat brain had taken over, and so he had to stay, despite his own desire to escape. His cat brain had been enjoying the stroking, and so it refused to budge from its spot in Sakura's lap. Suddenly in a puff of smoke Sasuke reverted back to his human form.

_Tch!_ He thought irritated, _and I thought that after three months I had full control of the cat mind. But apparently, it thinks on its own when it's near Sakura… Still, I had no idea that that girl lived in such miserable conditions, imean she's always so happy at school that it's hard to tell…Hmm, she's quite an interesting girl…_a smirk made its way onto Sasuke's face as he leapt off the tree and made his way home.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:-**

**Well this is chapter two, not quite sure how it turned out,but enjoy! ^-^**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Naruto or the characters, only the plot is mine.**

* * *

Sakura made her way to class the next day, feel a lot more at ease since yesterday. A nervous laugh escaped her lips as she thought about yesterday's events. _How stupid of me…I actually vented out my feelings to a cat, which probably even had no idea what I was blabbering about._

"_OH! But not just that, you actually spoke to a BLACK cat! Do you have any idea how unlucky that is?"_ Sakura's inner self had surfaced within her mind.

_Yeah but I'm not superstitious anyhow so that doesn't really concern me_

"_Oh yeah? Then why are you suddenly feeling scared?"_ Her inner self argued haughtily.

Sakura gulped and halted at the door to her class.

_Well that's because I just realized that we have a seating arrangement coming out today. And I don't want to be stuck with some idiot! _Sakura replied nervously to her inner self.

"_Hey! What if you actually get to sit next to Uchiha Sasuke? That would just be a dream come true for us!" _Inner Sakura squealed in delight. "_So don't just stand there! Get in there and find out who you're stuck with!" _

Sakura opened the door, swallowing the lump in her throat. Her eyes were fixed on the teacher's desk that was surrounded by a group of people, more like a group of girls who were gaping at the list disbelievingly. Among those girls, sakura recognized her friends, Ino, Tenten and Hinata, and a smile made its way onto her face as she rushed over to them. Ino saw her coming and alerted the two girls standing next to her. The three of them returned her smile with their own.

Sakura opened her mouth to greet them, but suddenly found a hand clasped over her mouth. Sakura's eyes widened in shock, as it registered to her that Tenten had her hand clamped over her mouth.

"Shh! don't say anything yet." Hinata whispered to her, while Ino and Tenten dragged her out of the classroom.

Once they were outside, Tenten let go of Sakura and sighed.

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked, startled by her friends' strange behavior.

"Hmm we just saved you from marauding fan girls and all you can do is ask questions with that stupid look on your face?" Ino added, with an air of arrogance in her tone.

"Saved? What the heck are you talking about?" Sakura asked even more confused now, then Ino's words hit Sakura, "And what do you mean 'stupid look', Ino-pig?" Sakura added in mock anger.

"Well Billboard, if you had spoken in there, Karin and her fan club would have torn you to shreds!" Ino shrieked, while dramatically flailing her hands about.

"Why? I never did anything to them…"Sakura mused.

"Well it doesn't have anything to do with what you did." Tenten added, "You remember that list thing that Kakashi-sensei talked about yesterday?" Tenten grinned sneakily.

"…Yes…" Sakura replied nervously, "Don't tell me I'm stuck with those evil brats!"

Now both Ino and Tenten were grinning.

"Um, Sakura-chan, you're…." Hinata revealed the secret that had her two friends grinning like madmen. Hearing that, Sakura's eyes widened and she let out a surprised "What!"

"It's t-true." Hinata smiled at her friend.

"No I don't believe this, I'll have to see it for myself…"Sakura trailed off and opened the door to the classroom, only to be met by a hoard of girls giving her death glares.

"There she is!" One of the girls exclaimed menacingly. "What! This forehead girl is the one!" Sakura cringed at the comment while Inner Sakura was already fuming and letting out a string of curses.

Sakura pushed past the girls, with help from her friends, and headed over to the teacher's desk. Her eyes widened when she saw the list. Right there, in black and white, was her name; printed right next to…she gulped…Uchiha Sasuke's. Her seat was located in the left half of the room, near the window, the first seat. Behind her sat Ino and Tenten, and in the middle row, the seat right next to hers was Hinata's, who sat next to Naruto. Sakura's eyes traveled to the place where her seat was located, and there she saw Sasuke sitting there, his eyes closed, and his arms folded across his chest. His best friend Uzumaki Naruto was yelling around about something, but Sasuke sat there, slight irritation marred across his face, with his usual air of indifference.

Karin approached Sakura from behind, and angrily grabbed her arm, jerking her to turn her around.

"Listen here ugly forehead! You may be sitting next to Sasuke-kun, but there is no way in hell I'll ever let you get him. Someone as cool as him, deserves much better than an ugly loser like you!" Karin hissed angrily at the girl.

"Go away Karin! You're just jealous that Sakura has more of a chance with Sasuke-kun than you ever will." Ino butted in.

"Guh! Whatever Blondie!" Karin fumed, "as for you billboard brow, just stay away from him!" And she left fuming.

"Thanks Ino." Sakura smiled appreciatively at her friend.

The bell rang, and right on cue the Chemistry teacher, Kurenai-sensei walked in, and everyone jumped to their seats. The students simultaneously greeted their sensei, and those who did not take chemistry took off with their books to their respective and Tenten left for their Art class, leaving the seat behind Sakura empty. Karin and one of her friends sat down behind her, in order to keep an eye on her, unfortunately for Sakura.

"_Oh great! Now these fools are here..."_ Inner Sakura glared at the two scowling girls.

Kurenai-sensei wasted no time with introductions, and immediately began the lecture. Off course, it's not like they had any time to waste anyway, I mean they had to give their major A level exams in June.

During the lecture Sakura's eyes shifted to her right, where Hinata sat, face red, and was scribbling away on her copy. Next to her Naruto sat with a dazed look on his face, obviously he had no idea what was going on. Sakura sighed._ Why did he even take chemistry if he doesn't understand anything to begin with?_ Sakura's gaze shifted to her right, where Sasuke sat, scribbling away on his copy, paying no heed to her, or, thankfully, to the two idiots who were giggling and throwing flirty glances at him. However, it was obvious that the Uchiha was cursing his luck for being surrounded by idiots.

Sakura suddenly felt terrible, she was upset that even though she was sitting next to him, Sasuke did not care at all. Moreover, it disturbed her that she might be disturbing him with her presence.

Sakura was brought out of her trance when she saw Sasuke's onyx eyes looking up at her. She felt foolish for staring at him like that.

"What?" Sasuke asked, his tone showing no emotion at all.

"Oh, um...Sorry" Sakura said and turned back to the copy sitting in front of her.

"Hn." Was his only reply and he too diverted his attention to his work.

The Chemistry lesson ended after an hour, and Ino and Tenten returned back to their seats, slyly smiling at Sakura. The next lesson was English, and since the whole class took English, everyone sat at their assigned seats. The English teacher, Asuma –sensei, gave everyone a comprehension to do. Since Asuma was a little laid-back compared to the other teachers, he allowed students to talk, so Naruto kept chatting away with Hinata and Kiba and Shino, who were sitting around him. Hinata was helping him with the comprehension, her face still red but obviously she was very happy.

Ino had turned around and was pestering Shikamaru about being very lazy. Sakura on the other hand was concentrating on her work. She had been feeling extremely guilty since the Chemistry lesson; she always busied herself in work whenever she felt this way. She didn't like the fact that she was annoying Sasuke merely with her presence.

Sakura grabbed a piece of paper from her file, and started scribbling away on it, and then once she was done, she slid the paper over to Sasuke. Sasuke, glanced at the paper with a confused look on his face, but much to Sakura's surprise, Sasuke pulled the sheet over to himself.

"I'm sorry you're stuck with me as your partner for the rest of the year. But I promise I'll try to keep from annoying you." Sasuke read over the note that had been passed to him. Sakura felt stupid for the second time that day. _Why the hell did I just do that! What if he just laughs at it and throws it at my face._ Sakura was beginning to get very anxious, and what made it worse was the fact that she could not read Sasuke's placid expression.

* * *

Sasuke stared at the note in his hands, reading it once. _Annoying me? Hn. How did she find out?_ Sasuke wondered. Of course she had been annoying him, but probably not in the way she was thinking. Ever since yesterday, Sasuke had been thinking over and over about this girl. It irked him to no end when he couldn't figure her out like he could with everyone else. Sasuke was a very perceptive person, that's why he aced all his subjects, but what irritated him about Sakura was the fact that, up until yesterday, he would never have known that Sakura had such a miserable life. He would never have known that Sakura came in day after day with a façade of happiness plastered on her face. What further annoyed him was the fact that he could never know how, or why, she could maintain that façade. _Tch! Why are you so hard for me to figure out Haruno Sakura?_ He stole a glance at Sakura, who was intently doing her work a pink tint over her cheeks.

A smirk tugged at Sasuke's lips, and strangely enough he found himself scribbling a reply to Sakura's silly little note. Then he slid it over to Sakura, who stared at him, wide- eyed.

Sakura hesitantly reached for the paper, her cheeks still slightly pink, and read it.

"Hn. I highly doubt you can keep from annoying me." Sakura felt like a rock had fallen on her head, knocking out the wind from her, but she continued reading. "However you've got it wrong if you think I'm bothered by the fact that you are my partner. I'm actually quite glad I'm sitting next to you instead of that blonde girl behind us, or even my…er…_fan club_. Actually, it's much better not having the dobe (Naruto) screaming in my ear for once."

Sakura couldn't help but read the last few lines over and over again. She was relieved that he wasn't mad at her or anything. Sakura snickered at the part about her best friend. With a smile on her face she wrote down a few more lines and passed the note to Sasuke, who took it immediately.

"Hey Ino is one of my best friends you know! But I'm glad that we can be friends?"

Sasuke smirked at the message, because he too wanted to find out more about this girl, and his objective had been accomplished.

"Aa." Sasuke replied, his voice monotone. Sakura smiled ecstatically at his reply, she was extremely happy and in her state of euphoria, Sakura failed to notice the glares she had been receiving from Sasuke's "fan club".

Karin bit her fingernail distraughtly, _Damn you Sakura! I …just you wait; I'll make sure you suffer at my hands._ Karin slashed the last answer on her work and stood up to hand her work in. On her way down the aisle, she made sure to subtly poke the sharp end of her pencil into Sakura's back. Sakur gasped in shock, and winced at the stinging sensation in her back. She glared at Karin's retreating back. Unknown to both of them, Sasuke had noticed Karin's petty little action and threw a famous 'Uchiha glare' at her as well.

* * *

The rest of the day practically flew by for Sakura. During break she spent her time chatting away wit her friends, and in the Math lesson after break, she giddily did her work, and somehow managed to spark up a conversation with Sasuke. She had found out that Sasuke was interested in taking over the family business and that Sasuke hated sweets. Sasuke too found out some things about Sakura, like she loved sweets, and that she had never once been to see the school soccer team play.

When the final bell rang, the students milled out into the hallways, hurrying to get out of there…everyone, except Sakura. Sakura wanted to have a few more moments in the school, a few more moments with Sasuke, because in these moments she could forget about the trouble at home.

So Sakura slowly proceeded out the empty classroom, and opening the door she was greeted by her friends who instantly rammed at her with questions.

"So Sakura what were you talking about with Sasuke-kun all day?" Ino asked teasingly

"Yeah! You barely spoke to us since morning. So tell us what's up?" Tenten added, a grin on her face.

"N-nothing. Why are you even asking all these pointless questions?" Sakura replied defensively.

"COME ON SAKURA! You know why we're asking!" Ino exclaimed excitedly.

"Y-yes Sakura-chan. You know Sasuke doesn't talk to anyone other than his select few friends." Hinata chimed in.

"Oh not you too Hinata." Sakura sighed in exasperation, "Seriously we were only talking."

"Boo Sakura you're no fun at all." All three girls pouted.

"Well sorry, but you're stuck with boring old me." Sakura replied grinning. "Sorry guys I have to go home before my uncle starts asking questions. Bye!" Sakura waved while running off to her house. In an hour she'd have to report to work, and she couldn't afford to be late, literally.

"You're not off the hook yet Forehead!" Ino yelled after her, while waving goodbye.

* * *

_Gah! I have to get home quickly, there's homework to be done. _Sakura picked up her pace and started jogging home from work. It was around seven thirty, and Sakura was pretty close to her alley. _Oh and I have to take a shower too, hopefully the water is coming. Just turn the corner here and…Huh?_ Sakura halted, and gaped at the sight in front of her. Right in front of her alley were two ambulances, their sirens blaring in her ears. There was a car too, it's windshield completely destroyed, and a lamp post was lying on the car, all broken up and dented. The ground near the car was covered with shattered glass, and amidst the carpet of glass, was a pool of…blood. Paramedics were bustling about, yelling orders at each other. A couple paramedics hauled a body out of the car and put it on a stretcher. One of the two checked the bloodied body's pulse and its breathing.

"Huh! This one's still alive." He told his companions.

"Alright hurry and get him to the hospital" another voice buzzed in Sakura's ears, this voice sounded like it was very close to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, "Hey kid, you shouldn't be here. You'll get in the way. Go home." The voice said to her, bringing her out of her trance.

"Um…Excuse me, but…what happened here?" Sakura asked, managing to somehow keep her cool.

"Huh? Oh, there was an accident; a drunken man came out onto the road, completely out of his senses. The car seemed to have hit him, and swerved and hit that lamp post there." The paramedic replied, equally calm.

Sakura's heart beat hastened, a strange feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach, yet she found the courage to somehow ask the question she was hesitating to ask, "And the drunken man, did he…?"

"Yes," the paramedic answered solemnly, "He is no longer living."

Sakura turned frantic all of a sudden, she had a hunch about the drunken man's identity, but she oh so wanted to be wrong. "Sir! Could you tell me a bit about the man's appearance? Or anything that can help determine his identity! Please!" Sakura was on the verge of yelling, she was panicking.

"He was about 6 feet tall, pale skin; his eyes were gray in color. However his hair color…well I'm not sure about that because it was red from blood. H-hey! Are you Alright kid?" Sakura had slumped to the ground, her eyes glistening with tears, and her shoulders were trembling terribly. She was right, the drunken man… "Listen kid I think its better you go home, this must be too much for a girl your age to see." The paramedic supported her up.

"Y-yes…Thank you..." and with that Sakura walked off towards the alley. She staggered a bit when she reached the door, and grabbed the door knob instantly to keep herself from falling to her knees. After what seemed like ages, Sakura stepped inside the small apartment. It was dark, just as she had expected, there was a strange murkiness in the room. Closing the door behind her, Sakura once again dropped to her knees, this time letting the tears fall freely from her eyes. The tears crashed onto the wooden floor, Sakura's silent sobs filled the empty room, echoing in her ears.

"How…h-how c-can I…?" Sakura spoke in between sobs, "U-unc-cle..."

_How can I have become orphaned again..?_

And she staggered to her room, crying herself to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:-**

**Well this is the third ! it got pretty long. To all those people who are supporting me, THANK YOU! ^-^. please tell me what you think.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own NARUTO or its Characters.**

Naruto rushed past the doors, through the empty hallways of the school, and barged in through the door of his own classroom. Panting at the doorway, the door fiercely slammed against the wall, his eyes scurried to the back of the almost empty classroom. When he had found what, or rather who, he was looking for; he cautiously made his way to the back of the room. Every step he took towards the figure leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest, the more hesitant Naruto felt. Slowly, Naruto made his way to the figure with dark hair and dark eyes to match. Piercing onyx eyes studied Naruto's facial expression, somewhat curiously. Naruto gulped under the strong gaze._ Okay now I just have to phrase this in such a way that he'll have to help me! _A look of determination crossed Naruto's face, and he clenched his fist in a determined manner, opening his mouth to finally word out what he wished to ask.

"No." The figure leaning against the wall replied, his voice monotone.

Naruto's face faulted, how could Sasuke reject him before he even spoke!

"Teme! Did you even know what I was going to ask? How can you go around rejecting people before you even know what they have to say! It's just plain cruel you know, here I am about to ask you for a favor that well determines my future, and you so coldly refuse to even listen to my mere little request…" Naruto rambled on and on, until Sasuke finally got sick of listening and sighed.

"You dobe. I know what you want, which is precisely why I said no." he sighed monotonously.

"Huh? You know?" Naruto stared dumbfounded, "How?"

"Let's see now shall we." Sasuke stated, in a bored tone, "You're here earlier than usual, you usually come in a few seconds before the bell rings, but today you're here before the rest of the class. Furthermore, you're here carefully thinking of how to ask me for your favor, and saying your future depends on it. Classic signs of Naruto's "I want to copy your homework because I'm too lazy to do it on my own" syndrome." Sasuke finished his explanation with a smirk.

"Geez if you knew all those facts from the start, why didn't you just give me your homework in the first place, and spared us from the long and boring lecture." Naruto rolled his eyes.

Sasuke opened his mouth in order to respond, but he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Hyuga Neji and his cousin Hyuga Hinata walked in, followed by Tenten and Rock Lee.

Neji nodded to the previous occupants of the class in greeting, while Sasuke responded with a nod of his own. Naruto on the other hand waved.

"Hey guys! Did you do the math homework Kakashi-sensei gave?" He practically screamed.

"Why Naruto-kun, have you not done it?" Rock Lee inquired.

"Off course I haven't BUSHY BROWS! Why else would I be asking?" Naruto yelled frantically.

"Geez Naruto, you really need to become more responsible." Tenten replied irritated.

"Well! I did ask Sasuke here for his work but he's just too stubborn to hand it over!" Naruto replied, equally irritated.

"Sasuke is doing the right thing. You really need to be more diligent Naruto." Neji said acerbically.

"WHAT! You're all siding with that TEME!" Naruto pointed accusingly at Sasuke, whose expression didn't falter in the least, and the smirk remained arrogantly on his face. "Some friends you guys are. You know I'm no good with math, and even then sensei insists on giving homework." Naruto sighed out dejectedly.

"Um, Naruto-kun... you can copy off of me." The usually silent Hinata spoke up, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Hinata!" Neji asked, disbelief laced in his tone.

Naruto immediately perked up, puppy dog eyes took over as he looked gratefully at Hinata. "You really mean it Hinata? Thank you!" and he trapped Hinata in a bear hug, the girl's cheeks flaring red with ecstasy. Neji glared at the sight, earning a giggle from Tenten.

Naruto sat down on his desk and started copying off of Hinata's work. Neji stood close by, leaning on one of the desks, while Rock Lee sat on the desk next to the one Naruto had occupied, which was in fact Hinata's seat. Sasuke was sitting on the desk behind Naruto, his feet dangling in the air. Both girls were sitting at Tenten's desk, talking about some movie.

"Yesterday's soccer practice was amazing!" Lee piped up, "It was so refreshing to see Gai-sensei after so long! Oh how I missed his youthful presence."

"Pipe down Lee!" The Hyuga reprimanded, "Thank goodness we only have soccer practice three days a week."

"Yeah, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday." Sasuke commented, "Otherwise we'd have to hear that crazy man's voice everyday."

"Do not be disrespectful to Gai-sensei, Sasuke-san." Lee's eyes were flaming.

"Shut up Bushy brows! I'm trying to do work here" Naruto said, whilst glaring at the black haired, big eyed boy.

The door opened again, and Shikamaru and Chouji joined the group, occupying the nearest seat. Soon afterwards, Sakura walked inside the classroom, greeting everyone present. She received a few nods of acknowledgement, and two loud "HELLO SAKURA-CHAN". She made her way to her friends who were waving at her, putting her bag on her seat in the process.

_She's early today._ Sasuke noted with mild interest, as he subtly glanced at her._ Something seems a bit different about her though._ He felt it, even though he did not get to have a proper look at her.

* * *

Sakura had woken up with a start, breathing heavily, and sweat trickling down her brow. She just had another nightmare, a strange one where she was left all alone in darkness. Glancing at the clock, she sat up, sighing in relief; it was five thirty am, there was no point going to sleep now. Off course she couldn't even if she tried. Her entire night had been plagued with nightmares, leaving her with little sleep. Lethargically she got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. It was a Friday, and she'd have to go to school soon, so she decided to utilize the time to take a shower, and finish the homework she had left off due to the previous day's events.

Opening the faucet of her shower, she allowed the lukewarm water to trickle down her body, soothing her tense muscles. Once she was done, she allowed herself a glance at her reflection. She grimaced at the sight; her face was pale and her eyes were rimmed with slight dark circles. She assumed both were due to lack of sleep, and moved on to dress herself. After wearing her school uniform, she went towards the fridge lying in the corner of her kitchen. As expected it was almost empty, only last night's leftovers and a carton of milk sat in front of her.

She grabbed the carton of milk and poured out some in her glass, only to have it finish once her glass was full. Discarding the empty carton, she grabbed her math copy and sat down n the floor of her room, her glass of milk lying close by. She stared at the questions in front of her, questions about Logarithms. She knew the topic quite well, but somehow her mind was not processing the information her eyes were feeding to it. She drank the milk, hoping that would give some energy to her empty mind, but to no avail. Frustrated by her lack of concentration, she glanced at the clock; 6:30 it read. _Did I really spend that much time in the shower?_ Sakura absently questioned herself.

She needed to finish her homework that much she knew, but her mind kept wandering off elsewhere. She kept thinking about how she would overcome the financial problems that were sure to begin due to her uncle's passing away. At the mere thought of her uncle, her eyes glazed over with tears. _Sometimes the world does such cruel things._ She thought sadly. _How am I going to pay all the bills? I'm just a seventeen year old girl damnit! I can't pay electricity, water and gas bills at my wage! I've already been handling food and the school fees, and now all this! Damnit!_ Sakura's blood boiled with fury, and the few tears in her eyes started to spill over. She had no idea what to do. There was no more family who would willingly take her in, and frankly she didn't want to be a burden on anyone either, but then what was she supposed to do? Sakura wiped away her tears and glared at the math work that was mockingly staring back at her.

"I need some help here!" she yelled out to no one in particular, silently hoping that some sort of answer would come to her. When no answer came, however, she stood up, furiously shoving her books in her bag. She desperately needed someone to talk to, but she couldn't bring herself to talk to one of her friends. No she wouldn't do that, she had made a vow to herself in the seventh grade, and she'd live up to her vow no matter what.

She looked at the clock once more, 6:45. It'd take her about 20 minutes to walk to school, and maybe there she could copy off of someone else. Sakura closed the door to her apartment, and walked out of the alley. Her mood seemed to improve with every step she took out of the alley, away from _her_ apartment, away from the loneliness that resided within the four walls of that place.

Strangely enough, the closer she moved towards the school, the warmer her insides felt. She was going closer to the place where she had people whom she deeply cared about, and people who cared about her too. A smile appeared on her face, it had become second nature to her now, as she opened the door to her class, her family. Yes, school was definitely her sanctuary.

Sakura entered her class, greeting the occupants. She was glad that her friends were there that early; otherwise her sour mood might have taken over. She walked over to her friends, Hinata and Tenten, smiling as usual.

"Hey guys!' she chirped.

"Oi Sakura, how come you're here so early today? School doesn't start for another half an hour." Tenten asked a little concerned at her friend's condition.

"Sakura-chan you look so pale. Are you alright?" Hinata asked worriedly.

'Yeah I'm fine; I just couldn't sleep well last night. Anyway, Hinata may I borrow your homework?" Sakura quickly brushed away the subject of her paleness, and started to avert her gaze from her friend's pale lavender eyes, in an embarrassed kind of way, "I, uh, couldn't do mine." She ended pathetically.

The two girls gaped at Sakura, until Hinata broke out of her trance and replied, "Um Sakura-chan, my work is with Naruto-kun. But um, what do you mean you couldn't do it? You're the one who explained it to me the other day…" Hinata eyed her worriedly.

"No, what I meant was I didn't have time to do it." Sakura replied, "But I'll just ask someone else then. Thanks."

"Sakura, I'd offer you mine but you know that I'm not so good at math so…" Tenten said.

"No it's alright Tenten; I'll go ask someone else." Sakura smiled reassuringly.

While Sakura was conversing with Hinata and Tenten, Kiba and Shino had arrived, so the group around Naruto was becoming very loud. Fortunately for Sakura, the result of that was that Sasuke was becoming disconnected with the conversation.

_Hey it doesn't hurt to ask._ Sakura thought to herself, and made her way over to Sasuke.

"Excuse me Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Oh Sakura, did you want something?" Sasuke asked, his tone the same as usual. However Sasuke noticed, with mild shock, that Sakura's face was quite pale, and dark circles were spread around her eyes. He also noticed her suddenly start twiddling her fingers, almost identically to the Hyuga girl.

"I was just wondering if… You've done your math work, I, uh, I'd like to, um copy it, If that's not a problem, that is. Err, you don't have to though…" she let out timidly, which was very much unlike her.

Naruto who was still hunched over his, or rather Hinata's, work, was smiling pleased to himself. He thought Sasuke would reject her request just like he had his, and then, he could offer Sakura-chan his work.

"Sure." Sasuke said while sliding off the desk and reaching out towards his bag. Naruto was shocked, so much so in fact that he began to yell, "Oi! Teme! You wouldn't let your BEST FRIEND copy off of you but you're going to let Sakura-chan! What kind of friend are you?" He was yelling exasperatedly.

"Dobe. Unlike you, she probably has a good reason for not doing it." Sasuke replied dully.

"Hm come to think of it sakura-chan has never not done her homework." Naruto spoke thoughtfully, "so how come you haven't done it today?"

Sakura seemed to become flustered, so Sasuke answered for her, "Don't pester her dobe." Then he turned to Sakura and handed her the work. She smiled gratefully and thanked him sincerely. Glancing once at the clock, 7:15, she noted, Sakura started to copy the work.

* * *

When the bell rang, Kurenai-sensei came in to take the attendance, and after the five minutes assigned for attendance, she left. Since it was Kakashi-sensei's class, the class took advantage of the inevitable fifteen minutes of freedom they would get due to their sensei's tardiness habits.

When Kakashi-sensei arrived, he immediately got down to business, and started giving a lecture about 'Factor and Remainder theorem'. Throughout the lecture, Sakura found it very difficult to concentrate. Her mind failed to comprehend anything, and wasn't even wandering now, just a big headache.

Sasuke noticed her strange behavior, she was spaced out. She had been that way ever since Kakashi-sensei had distributed the fees a good fifteen minutes ago. Her face had faulted in an exasperated way, and Sasuke could swear he could see her body go limp, and her soul fly about deranged. He had started to become curious, wait he crossed curious ages ago, now he was downright worried! He was about to nudge her and ask her what was wrong, when a certain blonde beat him to it.

Ino poked Sakura from behind, making sure the teacher wasn't looking, and passed Sakura a piece of paper. Sakura's dazed eyes seemed to have gotten into the present, as she took hold of the note and read over it.

"Hey Forehead you feeling okay? You're not listening to the lecture at all."

Sakura replied to Ino's note and placed it on her desk.

"Yeah I'm fine, just totally bored that's all. Plus I think my head is going to explode."

"From boredom right? I get what you mean; I'm barely able to keep my eyes open. But Forehead you need to keep listening, otherwise who's going to explain this stuff to me later?"

Sakura smiled as she read over the note, much to Sasuke's relief. At least she was acting normal again.

"Well there's always lazy genius Shikamaru for tutoring you." Ino's cheeks flushed slightly at the note, earning a pleased grin from Sakura.

After the little note passing incident, Sakura began to pay more attention to the lecture, despite the slight headache she was having. She almost jumped up in happiness when the lesson ended. However, her temporary happiness faded once Kakashi announced that he'd be taking a test next week. Well at least now she had two free lessons, otherwise she was sure she'd collapse from sheer boredom.

However, she soon found that instead of going to the library like everyone was supposed to, people started roaming around the school grounds. Karin and her two friends were going to the canteen, while a few of Sasuke's fan girls were huddled in the back of the room, stealing glances at him and giggling like maniacs. Hinata was busy explaining the math lesson to Naruto, and Ino was pestering Shikamaru to teach her Factor theorem. Tenten on the other hand was chatting with Lee-san and Neji-san, so Sakura felt it better not to disturb either of them. However Sakura was disturbed by the fact that no one was making their way to the library, but in a way she was glad, otherwise she'd have to climb three flights of steps to get there, and she wasn't in the mood to do so. So Sakura just settled for laying her head down on the desk and sleep.

"Sakura." She jerked her head up at the sound of the voice, earning an unwanted whiplash in the process. She glanced at Sasuke who had called to her. He was standing to her right side, leaning on her desk. "Are you okay? You look a little pale." He stated, his brows furrowed slightly in concern.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just a little sleepy I guess." She replied sheepishly.

"Hn." He said, "So that's it?"

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"I mean, you're acting strange because you're tired, not any other reason." He replied.

"Well, I do have a headache…" she trailed off.

"You should have said so sooner," Sakura looked up at him, studying his face, "If you had, we could have ditched Kakashi-sensei's lesson for a while to take you to the nurses' office. It would have been better to ditch his lesson than to waste a free lesson. Come on let's go to the nurse." Sasuke started leading the way, Sakura following her gaze lingering on the back of Sasuke's spiky hair.

Sasuke's fan girls in the class saw him talking to her and sent glares and curses at Sakura, which she ignored easily. Naruto also noticed him leaving the class, and he couldn't help but smile slightly to himself.

* * *

When Sakura returned to class with Sasuke, after eating a tablet, the fan girls had left the class, leaving Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Lee, Neji, and Tenten. That was perfect; from the whole of her class Sakura was closest to these ten people.

"Oi! You guys are finally back. We were waiting for you." Kiba said.

All ten of them were sitting on the first few rows of seats and desks, apparently all those who were explaining math were finished doing so.

"Hey now we're twelve people, so now let's play." Naruto exclaimed.

"Play?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes Sakura-san. We're going to play bat and ball." Lee replied, "In class."

"What? Have you guys gone nuts? What if you break a window or something?" Sakura asked furiously.

"Relax Sakura!" Ino chimed in, "We're going to use the attendance register as the bat and Chouji made this ball here out of paper." She tossed the 'ball' up and down.

"Alright now let's split into teams. I'm team captain!" Naruto laid claim to the position.

"Fine then I'm the opposition." Neji replied.

They split into teams; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba and Shino verses Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Tenten.

Once the teams were made one team began to bat, until every person was out. Once one team was out, the other team started to bat, while the opposing team scattered all over the classroom in order to catch the ball. For the rest of the free lesson, the twelve of them played with great fervor, even Shikamaru, who quite surprisingly was actively moving around. However the bell rang, signifying that break had started. The second the bell rang, Naruto flung the register at the teacher's desk, nearly hitting Kiba's head in the process, allowing it to land safely on the desk.

"HEY WATCH IT!" Kiba yelled after a retreating Naruto. The few of them rushed out to the grounds for fresh air.

"Hey Sakura, you coming?" Ino inquired while standing at the door.

"Yeah, just let me get some money from my bag." Sakura answered, once Ino had left Sakura's face fell._ Money…maybe I should just save it instead._ So Sakura turned around without money in hand, only to meet Sasuke who was eyeing her curiously.

"Weren't you going to get money?" He asked, studying her face as it went pallid.

"Nah. I decided I need a diet." She lied, quite convincingly. But Sasuke did not falter.

"Sakura, you look sick." He insisted, but then realized the double meaning in his words and corrected, "I mean you look like you're sick and the last thing you need right now is a diet." He spat out the last word.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…thanks Sasuke-kun." She complied, and grabbed some money from her bag._ He's right, the last thing I need right now is to become sick and take days off work._ Inner Sakura kept screaming in Sakura's mind, "_He totally cares about you. Look he's even waiting for you at the door!"_ Sakura blushed at the thought.

* * *

The last lesson of the day was biology, in which Sakura sat with Ino. This was so because Sasuke had not opted for biology as his elective, and instead had business studies. Since Naruto had made it a point to take the same subjects as Sasuke, he too was absent from the classroom. Thus Hinata sat behind Ino and Sakura. It was almost over, the first week of school that is, and Sakura couldn't help but feel a melancholic air about everything. Although she had been trying to refrain from thinking about it, her mind had kept wandering to the monetary problems she was facing. She had been doing so since the math class, and fortunately she was able to keep everyone else in the blue about why she was really spacing out, by giving lack of sleep as the excuse. By the time the bell rang, Sakura's face had paled even more than before, she felt sick to her stomach, and it didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Hey Sakura are you sure you're okay?" Tenten asked for what seemed like the tenth time that day.

Sakura was sick of that question, so she replied in an irritated tone "Yes! I'll just go to sleep when I go home. So stop asking already."

"Well that's some way to talk to someone who's concerned about your well being." Ino countered.

"Sorry guys, I'm just really tired and I don't feel up to talking right now. Sorry…" She replied guiltily.

"Well I hope you feel better, Sakura-chan." Hinata said and started to walk out of the almost empty class. Ino and Tenten soon followed, bidding sakura farewell. Sakura slowly packed her remaining books and started trudging out of the empty classroom, making it a point to switch of the lights. Once she had closed the door, she found Naruto and Sasuke standing in the hallway, talking to each other.

"Hey Sasuke! Kiba just bought this new video game, you coming to his place today?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Sasuke glanced at the sky before answering, "Hn. We'll see." Sakura too looked at the sky, observing grey clouds to the eastern side._ It will rain today, _she thought indifferently. By then Sakura had made it towards them, and glancing at her in acknowledgement, Sasuke started walking towards the school gates. Naruto smiled at Sakura as they walked out together.

_Did these two wait for me?_ Sakura smiled to herself in pleasure. _Really, I do have such nice friends._

* * *

It was about seven thirty in the evening when it finally started to rain, and it was exactly at that time that Sakura had reached the alley to her house, after returning from work. She was dead tired when she entered the alley, and she didn't bother to step inside, instead she just slumped down on the ground, letting the cool rain soak her. She hugged her knees close to her and allowed herself to finally cry.

She lifted her head slightly when she felt something nudge her leg. She saw a little fur ball, that just like her was just a little wet. Through her tearstained eyes, she saw the little cat's onyx eyes stare up at her curiously, and as if on instinct, she lifted up the cat to her lap. Running her fingers through the cat's slightly wet fur, she started talking instantly.

"Kitty-chan!" she let out with a sob, "I don't know what to do! I'm ruined, that's it." The cat looked up worriedly at her, "My uncle is dead." She said in a whisper. The black cat's onyx eyes widened in surprise.

Sasuke was definitely not expecting to hear this. Since morning, he had contemplated that Sakura was having financial matters that much he had figured out, but he had not known how much trouble she was in. His onyx eyes stared at the girl who broke into sobs. Somehow, Sasuke's cat form ended up reaching up and licking Sakura's face in a comforting manner.

"I…I think I'll have to move to an…orphanage. I don't have any more family who'll take me, kitty-chan. And I can't pay all the bills from my wages. I, I don't know what I'm going to do…so I've been thinking since morning, that if I can get a place where I don't have to pay bills, then maybe I might be able to continue going to school. I don't want to drop out, but I have no idea where to find such a place…" Sakura trailed off, "I don't want to leave my friends!" sakura yelled and tears flowed out from her eyes again.

"You won't have to." An unknown feminine voice made its way to her ears, and she looked up, seeing a silhouette of a woman standing under an umbrella.

_Mom you…_Sasuke thought, while looking at the smiling woman in front of them.

* * *

"Where is that boy scurrying off to?" Mikoto asked herself, as she saw her youngest son climb up a tree, transform into a cat, and then wander off into the rain. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder what he's thinking once that cat takes over!" Mikoto huffed and slowly followed the cat's retreating form.

Sasuke, or rather, the cat, hurried into an alley, leaving Mikoto to wonder why he'd choose to go there.

"Why can't we have one day of normal grocery shopping?" Mikoto asked herself, irritated. Just a few minutes ago, she and her son had been grocery shopping, and the minute they had lugged the groceries in the car, it began to rain. Frantically, Sasuke climbed up a tree, in order to avoid being seen. Then, once the curse had taken over, instead of making his way over to Mikoto, Sasuke scurried off to some alley!

"I hope he's not eating garbage or anything!" Mikoto thought, flustered as she hurried to the alley. She stopped once she heard muffled sounds coming from the alley, and pressed herself closer to the wall in order to hear. She heard the voice say she didn't have a place to live, and how she didn't want to leave her friends. Her heart melted as she heard the distressed girl's voice breaking into sobs. Mikoto decided, there and then, that she'd help the girl. After all, if her son (even if he was a cat) chose to meet this girl instead of getting in the car, there was definitely something special about the girl.

Mikoto walked into the alley, speaking up "You won't have to." She said while smiling reassuringly. She noted the girl hunched over in the rain, her pink hair almost drenched. Green eyes stared up at her in mild surprise. She then noted the wet fur ball lying in her lap, rather comfortably, also looking worriedly at the pink haired girl.

Mikoto walked over to the poor girl and bent down, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet, so as to be at level with her.

"Dear," she coaxed, "you don't have to worry about a place to live anymore. There is a spare room in my house, you can live there. For free." She smiled sweetly

Sakura was struck speechless with shock, her eyes widened as she curiously observed the raven-haired, beautiful woman who was smiling down at her. The cat in her lap also stared curiously at the woman.

"Are, are you…serious?" was all Sakura could manage to spit out.


	4. Chapter 4

**A?N:-**

**well this chapter doesn't really have much in it but i think it turned out okay...**

**anyway the next chapter's gonna be more informative.**

**GOD! it took me so long just to get the computer to myself, thanks to my sister...**

**Anyway please enjoy and review.**

**Thank u to all my previous reviewers, i love u all!**

* * *

"Are, are you…serious?" was all Sakura could manage to spit out.

The raven haired woman nodded assuringly, the smile never once leaving her face. Sakura just stared at the lady in front of her, shielded from the rain by the umbrella the woman had placed over them. She looked familiar… the black hair framing her face, those dark yet inviting eyes, that smile… Sakura had seen all that before. However, in her moment of dazed euphoria, Sakura could only draw her resemblance to some sort of heavenly being. _Yeah, an angel…that's what she looks like._ Sakura thought as she looked at the woman once more. The way her skin seemed to be glowing in the moonlight that was filtering through the rain-filled sky, that smile… it all made her look like an angel, at least to Sakura.

Mikoto watched the uncertain look cross Sakura's face, and if she had read her mind with a glance, she spoke,

"You don't have to worry about repayment of any kind. You see, I live in a house where only I am the female, so I think it would be nice to have some sort of female companionship in the house." Mikoto coaxed.

Sakura felt a little more comfortable now, however the thought of moving in a house full of males unnerved her a little. However, she could not,_ would not,_ let this opportunity pass. This was the miracle she had been praying for all day. She had to.

"Thank you…" Sakura murmured, and somehow she ended up wrapping her arms around her 'angel's' neck in a friendly embrace, "Thank you so much!" she repeated, her voice laced with gratitude.

"Don't worry about it." The raven haired woman replied, "If you've decide, you can come in tomorrow. In fact I'll send someone for you, or maybe I should come myself?" Mikoto asked the girl, who nodded, her eyes sparkling with gratitude.

The woman stood to leave, sakura too stood up in order to say goodbye. Bowing down and thanking her profusely once more, Sakura finally noticed that the cat she had been, er, talking to, had disappeared._ I wonder when he left._ She asked herself, feeling very stupid for not noticing. When the woman waved goodbye, and started to walk away, Sakura asked her the question she should have asked a long time ago,

"Um, excuse me but, who are you?" she asked politely.

"Oh! How silly of me." The woman smiled bashfully, "My name is Uchiha Mikoto, and you are?"

Sakura replied, "Haruno Sakura ma'am. It was very nice meeting you." She added sincerely.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Sakura-chan." The woman, Mikoto, smiled and walked off briskly, but not ungracefully.

It was not until she was inside her own, soon to ex, apartment that Sakura realized something…_Uchiha, that's what she said._ Inner sakura went on a rampage of excitement.

"_WOW! We're going to live with Uchiha Sasuke-kun!"_

* * *

Sasuke was waiting at the car, his arms folded across his chest, hair dripping wet.

"Really Sasuke-chan, did you have to get all wet?" Mikoto asked her son in an irritated voice.

Sasuke lifted his head and looked at his mother, who was making her way to the driver's seat, closing her black umbrella.

Once they were in the car, Sasuke finally spoke.

"Kaa-san did you really mean that?" He asked uncertainly.

"You mean what I said to Sakura?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the road, "yes, I think its only right to help a girl in need." She stopped at a red light, and grinned at her son teasingly, "She seems like a nice girl after all, and of course, you seemed to like her a lot, Sasuke-chan." She placed deliberate emphasis on the last part.

Sasuke just scoffed. "I'm sure." He said rather dryly, "But I was just wondering what Tou-san would say if he heard this. He won't be too happy to let some outsider in the house.

The car began to move once again, and Mikoto diverted her attention to the road once again.

"You don't need to worry about that Sasuke-chan, I have my methods to convince you're Tou-san." She said determinedly.

Sasuke smiled at her. "Yep. I agree that you can convince him of anything." _Despite how difficult it is._

The car came to a halt, and both occupants of the car got out, Sasuke carrying all the groceries with ease. Mikoto opened the doors for the two of them. Uchiha Fugaku was sitting in the living room, with his laptop open in front of him, pf course, he never leaves his work. Surprisingly, Itachi was also sitting in the living room, his own book in hand. _This is perfect_ Mikoto smiled to herself as she took a seat on the couch next to her oldest son, just opposite her husband. Fugaku looked from his laptop to his wife, who was smiling at him.

"Hm! It took you quite a while." He said gruffly, his stoic look returning to gaze at the laptop screen.

Mikoto waited before answering, she waited until Sasuke was seated at the single couch near his brother, before finally replying.

"It started raining." She said simply, "Speaking of which something interesting happened, related to Sasuke-chan." This got her husband and her eldest son's attention.

"What?" Fugaku asked, almost worried.

Mikoto smiled assuringly, and waved her hand dismissively, "No, nothing to worry about. It's just that I met one of his class fellows." Fugaku was beginning to lose interest, "And I offered her to stay in our guestroom." Fugaku's head whipped up in shock, Itachi too looked at his mother disbelievingly.

"Kaa-san, why did you do that?" Itachi asked.

"Well, she was distressed about something, the she mentioned that she didn't have a place to stay, and she sounded very upset. I only felt it right to help her out." Mikoto said firmly.

"Why didn't she have a place to stay?" Itachi asked, stealing a glance at their father's irate expression.

"That I'm afraid, I'm not so sure about, but I'm sure Sasuke-chan knows why." Mikoto replied, still as firm as ever.

All eyes were on Sasuke now, who sighed and answered stoically,

"She's an orphan. Her uncle just died yesterday and she's facing some financial difficulties."

"And how do you know that?" Fugaku asked, his eyes slightly softened at what he heard.

"She told me, or rather she told a cat." Sasuke replied with a small smirk.

Fugaku remained quiet for a while, completely aware of the three pairs of eyes watching him intently.

"Well?" his wife asked, he could almost hear the threatening tone in her voice.

He let out an exasperated sigh, "Dear you know we can't take the risk of anyone finding out about the Uchiha family curse." He said sternly, "So you can't possibly let a non-Uchiha into the house."

"I've already thought of that. Whenever it rains, Sasuke-chan can lock himself in his room, and if we tell her on the first day not to disturb him when he locks himself up, then I'm sure she'll comply. She seems to want to do all she can to not be a burden, so if I phrase it properly, she'll make sure to never go that way. So the secret will definitely remain secret." Mikoto replied.

"And on the slight off chance that doesn't work?" Fugaku raised his eyebrow.

"Then we kill her." Mikoto replied seriously, three pairs of eyes staring at her in utter shock. She smiled, "No of course not! But my point is that she'll never find out, and if she does, we'll convince her she was just seeing things." The males sighed in relief; they were fool enough to believe that she would actually go as far as killing a girl!

"Itachi." Fugaku's voice blared out, "What do you think of this?"

"I see no problem with this, I'm sure we can convince her not to go prowling about in the house."

Itachi replied simply, aware of his mother's smile.

"And you Sasuke?" Fugaku asked his younger son.

"I think I'm competent enough to not let my secret out." He replied rather sarcastically.

Fugaku had no choice, he had to comply, otherwise he'd never hear the end of this nonsense. Unwillingly he replied "fine", receiving a hug from his wife.

Mikoto got up to serve dinner, making sure to send Itachi and Sasuke to fix up the guestroom; after all, it had been a while since anyone had actually used the guestroom. Mikoto was sure that his was the beginning of something interesting.

* * *

Sakura woke up really early the next day, despite it being a Saturday; she had to make sure she had packed up all her stuff before Mikoto-sama came. _I still can't believe this! Did that actually happen or what? Hm…now that I think about it, she did look a lot like Sasuke-kun, I couldn't tell yesterday because I was so distracted, but the resemblance is definitely there._

Sakura gathered all her belongings into a bag, wanting to scream in ecstasy. She couldn't believe that she'd actually be leaving this apartment of hers…so many sad memories were sprawled all over the place.

_Wait! I have to make sure I don't offend any one in the Uchiha household. Hmm… now how should I go about this?_ Sakura began to practice saying hellos and greetings in front of a mirror in the bathroom, excitedly waiting for the time when she'd be saying her final goodbye to this place.

* * *

The first thing that came to Sakura's mind when she arrived at the Uchiha household was _this place is huge!_ Sakura was struck with awe as she got out of the car, grabbing her bag in the process, Mikoto-sama also exiting the car from the opposite side. Seeing her awestruck expression, Mikoto couldn't help but smile, this girl was so simple that it was sweet.

"This is going to be your new home for a while. Do you like it?" Mikoto asked appearing at her side. She noted that Sakura was about the same height as her, perhaps a few centimeters taller. Before she got an answer, she felt a pair of arms curl around her neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sakura squealed, "I love this place already. And I'll make sure that I make myself useful to you and I'll help you with chores and everything." Sakura went on babbling, until Mikoto finally cut in, "You don't have to do anything dear."

When Sakura let go, Mikoto led the way to her house. Once inside Sakura was struck with even more awe than before; the front door led directly to the living room, which was decorated lavishly, leather sofas, a chandelier and many other expensive looking trinkets lying about. Going further down the hall, there was the kitchen to the right. Then there was a flight of stairs (spiral stairs). The rooms were upstairs; only one room was on the ground floor, which Sakura assumed was either another guestroom, or Mikoto-sama's room.

Mikoto led Sakura to her room upstairs; it was a room at the very end, and to the left side, was another room.

"This is your room Sakura-chan. The room on the left here is Sasuke-chan's room, I'm sure you know him." Mikoto smiled.

Sakura nodded sheepishly; as Mikoto went on explaining that the room on the right side of the stairs was Itachi's, her eldest son's. There was also this sitting room kind of a thing right in the middle that is the minute you climbed up the stairs, you'd meet the sitting room. The sitting room had a few sofas and cushions lying around, plus a big screen TV.

"I hope you'll be comfortable in the house, Sakura."

"Oh yes. This is all so much more than I'd ever hoped for." Sakura said gratefully, and bowed down respectfully. "Oh and Mikoto-sama, please if you need my help for anything, you can always ask me." Sakura offered.

"Hmm… there is one thing that I'd like you to be careful of, and this is very important so you'd better take care not to disobey this. Whenever Sasuke-chan is in his room, be sure not to go in. He doesn't like being disturbed when he's alone, he gets very grouchy." Mikoto stated seriously. Sakura nodded equally serious. "Good. Well it's almost lunch time, so everyone will be returning." Sakura was about to offer her help but Mikoto declined before she could even say so, "You needn't help now, because you have some unpacking to do. However you can help me with dinner, if you'd like. Hurry and come down to the kitchen once your done, I'll introduce you to my family then." And with that Mikoto was off down the stairs. It was strange, somehow Mikoto knew what Sakura was going to say before she even said it, _maybe I'm that predictable or maybe our mental levels match._ Sakura thought to herself as she opened the door to her new home.

She gasped, it was huge! A king size bed, a writing desk, an attached bathroom, side tables, a phone, big closets and even a small TV in the corner! This one room was about ten times better than her old apartment. _Any guest in the Uchiha household must live like kings! _Sakura thought, her senses finally retuning. Giddily she unpacked her stuff; a few clothes, albums and bathroom stuff. She was done organizing her stuff in about half an hour, then she was struck with nervousness. _How am I supposed to meet them?_ Sakura gulped nervously._ Come on Sakura, you've been practicing all morning, now is the time to show it._ She hesitantly opened the door of _her_ room, only to be met with piercing onyx eyes, staring at her, surprised. It was Sasuke; his arm was outstretched as if he was going to knock. Sakura just stared dumbly at his face, unable to say anything.

"Oh so you're the guest." Sasuke spoke, a smirk on his face, "Come on Sakura, I was just coming to get you."

"Umm" Sakura nodded and followed Sasuke down the stairs.

When they had descended the stairs and entered the kitchen, Sakura lingered at the doorway for a while, just observing the family she'd be living with for a while. She smiled as Mikoto acknowledged her presence from the table, and pointed for her to sit down.

"Fugaku, this is the girl who will be staying with us." Mikoto said as Sakura made her way to the chair Mikoto had pointed towards.

Sakura bowed as a sign of respect and introduced herself, waiting until Fugaku nodded in order to show approval. She inwardly sighed in relief, glad that she had received the stern looking man's approval. She took the seat next to Itachi-san, right opposite Sasuke, who was sitting next to his mother.

"Alright, everyone's here so let's begin." Fugaku started.

Lunch was quiet, Sakura noted, in fact she felt there was an odd sort of tension in the air. Once everyone was done, Fugaku cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Now Sakura, I expect that Mikoto has told you a few rules."

"Yes Fugaku-sama." Sakura replied, a little afraid of the man.

"Alright, then you do know that those rules are to be followed precisely, right?" Fugaku asked, but his tone seemed a little threatening to Sakura.

"Yes, I will do as you say. Thank you so much for your hospitality, Fugaku-sama." Sakura replied sincerely.

"Very well. Welcome to the family Sakura." Fugaku said, almost kindly, and Sakura only smiled. Somehow, the tension in the room seemed to have ceased.

Fugaku got up and left the house, for work, Sakura assumed, while the quiet Itachi went up the stairs. Sasuke stayed at the table, while Mikoto got up to do the dishes. Instinctively, Sakura got up to help. Mikoto smiled and was about to tell her not to, but Sakura spoke up instead "I want to help." So Mikoto complied.

"Tou-san seems to have warmed up to her." Sasuke spoke up, not really addressing anyone in particular.

"Ah. And Itachi-chan seems to have liked her too." Mikoto replied, smiling at Sakura, who was just blushing (From relief, embarrassment or what, even she did not know).

* * *

When she was done with the dishes, Sakura followed Sasuke up the stairs, who surprisingly didn't mind her tagging along at all. They sat down in the sitting room, quietly for some time.

"Hey, Sakura?" Sakura looked up at him, "Do you mind telling me why you're here?" His tone was not curious at all, but just stoic.

"Um, I …" Sakura didn't know what to say; certainly she wouldn't say the truth. Sasuke studied her expression, and smirked.

"Hn. You don't have to if you don't want to." He said, and something about his tone seemed awfully comforting. "Oh by the way, Kaa- san told me that if you ever need anything you should ask me." He said with the same stoic voice.

Sakura smiled, "Thank you."

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Sakura had moved into the Uchiha household, and thankfully she had been able to keep that a secret. _September is almost over, just two more days left._ Sakura thought as she made her way home from her job.

The two weeks in the Uchiha household had been very good for her at least. She had been able to go to school and her job regularly, and now paying bills wasn't a problem anymore. She had been helping Mikoto-sama with the chores at home too. She'd become close to her quickly; because unlike the rest of her family, Mikoto was a lot more open. She hadn't seen much of Itachi-san in the two weeks; he seemed to be in and out of the house. Fortunately for her, she never really ran into Fugaku-sama, except at lunch and dinner times.

The sky above her turned dark, and she could hear the clouds rumble._ Oh shit it's raining!_ Sakura cursed and started running, berating herself for not bringing an umbrella YET again.

Rain, it was strange. In the two weeks that she had spent in the Uchiha household, it had rained about thrice, and every time Sasuke-kun had locked himself up in his room, not coming out for about an hour. Despite her curiosity, she had refrained from entering his room, remembering the promise she had made on her first day. However, what was even stranger was the fact that her cat friend hadn't forgotten about her. He appeared every time it had rained, just like he had when she lived in hat alley. _Mikoto-sama had been right about the cat, when she said hat it'd follow my scent and turn up if it wanted to._ Sakura thought to herself as she arrived at the house. She fished in her purse for the spare keys she'd been given, and opened the door.

"I'm home." She announced, while taking off her shoes and drying out her hair with a towel that was always lying on the shoe-rack.

"Welcome home, Sakura-chan." Mikoto-sama said from the living room, "I see you forgot your umbrella again. Honestly, you can be so irresponsible sometimes!"

"Sorry." Sakura said and made her way to her room.

Once she had climbed the stairs, she saw Sasuke standing at his door, ready to open it.

"Hi Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chirped, but Sasuke did not answer, instead he seemed oddly tense.

Then at that moment, before Sasuke could even open his door, he was consumed by a puff of smoke. Sakura watched shocked, as the smoke cleared away, revealing the silhouette of a small creature. Sakura's purse fell from her grip and she stared shocked, letting out a shriek of shock.

Itachi, who had been in his room, heard the scream and jerked open his door.

"What! What happened?" Itachi asked the shocked girl who just stared at the scene in front of her. Itachi followed her gaze, he already knew what she was looking at, he was sure she had seen Sasuke transform into a cat. Sasuke just stood there, seemingly berating himself for slipping up.

In the mean time, Mikoto and Fugaku had run up to see what was wrong, even though they had a fair idea already.

"Uh oh." Mikoto said worriedly, while Fugaku stood there fuming, repeating "I told you" under his breath.

"What is going on here?" Sakura found herself asking, "Did Sasuke just, just… turn into a cat?" Sakura started laughing hysterically.

Itachi saw no way out of this mess, and decided it best to speak up

"Yes Sakura, he did."

"ITACHI!" Fugaku's voice blared.

"Tou-san what choice do we have? She has seen this and will never forget about this no matter what we convince her of. We have to tell her." Itachi countered.

"Tell me what?" Sakura asked bewildered.

"About …Sharingan." Fugaku answered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Well please tell me what you think**

* * *

"Sharingan?" she repeated the word in a daze, her eyes set upon Fugaku-sama's retreating back, as he sat down on one of the sofas in the sitting room. His family members followed suit, and soon were seated around him, except for the feline Sasuke, who preferred to hover around the confused girl's legs.

Fugaku-sama motioned to a single sofa opposite him, with his eyes, Sakura complied passively, her feline companion following behind.

Once she was seated, Sasuke sitting on the arm rest next to her, she waited anxiously, eyeing Sasuke suspiciously.

Fugaku had been eyeing his youngest son carefully. It did not go unnoticed by him that his son, in his transformed state, was completely oblivious to what was around him, and instead was strangely compelled to following the pink haired girl around.

_That is strange, I thought that after all this time, he would have learned to control his feline brain._ Fugaku thought to himself, disappointed at his son's lack of control. _I will have to talk with him later, however, at this point what is important, is to know exactly what you've planned, Itachi._

Fugaku set his concentrated gaze upon his eldest son, who was sitting to his left, observing the girl. Fugaku knew from the minute that Itachi had spoken; he had a plan… a plan that would allow their secret to remain a secret. However, Fugaku had yet to figure out what his son had planned.

"_Tou-san what choice do we have? She has seen this and will never forget about this no matter what we convince her of. We have to tell her" _Itachi's words ran in his head. Fugaku mulled over the words for a few seconds, then, it hit him, Itachi's plan became perfectly clear. Fugaku smirked in approval and looked back at the girl. His smirk quickly replaced by a frown. _So, if that's your plan Itachi, I will begin._

"Sakura." Fugaku's austere voice caused Sakura's head to snap up in attention. She looked at him with the utmost seriousness, completely opposite to the feline who was playing around with her hair. Fugaku sighed at his son's antics; _really I thought he'd have learned to tower over the cat mind_. "The Uchiha are a special clan, as you have already observed," Fugaku began, with evident pride in his voice, "However, since the beginning, our clan has been cursed with _that."_ He motioned with his eyes to Sasuke, almost accusingly. This did not go unnoticed by Sasuke, who seemed to have scowled in self-contempt. "That is the effect of a curse, the Sharingan. You see, this effect only takes place in Uchiha males, when they come of certain age, which is mostly seventeen. The Sharingan curse lasts for about a year, during that time, Uchiha males turn into cats for a certain interval of time. The causes of the transformation, however, vary from person to person. Once transformed, the body becomes a host for two minds." He paused, looking at her dumbfounded expression.

"Two minds?" Sakura repeated, as if trying to figure out the meaning on her own.

"Yes, one is the owner's own mind, while the other is the Cat's temporary mind. As a result of that, the owner starts to act differently from what they would usually act like. For instance, once in the transformed state, the owner might become extremely playful, despite being a serious minded young man in reality." Fugaku said the last part pointedly, which, as sakura observed, had a diverse effect on the other occupants of the room. Itachi-san and Mikoto-sama seemed to be smiling, almost as if they were trying to stifle their laughter. Sasuke on the other hand, seemed to have stopped playing with her hair and sat upright.

"However, with the passage of time, the owner learns to control the second mind, and thus can become quite like their old selves again. At times, the owner can have so much control that they may even be able to speak whilst in their transformed states." Fugaku continued.

"But, sometimes, it does happen that the owner looses control of the feline mind when they are around certain people, which renders the cat brain in charge. In simpler terms, the cat will act on its own." Mikoto added, meaning for it to be helpful.

"There are some positive effects of the Sharingan as well." Fugaku continued, Sakura looked at him with curious eyes, "You must be well aware of a cat's normal behavior, right Sakura? For example that cats are quite agile, and well balanced?" Sakura nodded. "Well those abilities are transferred into the owner as well. Uchiha males are very agile, have a great balance, and even sixth senses and so on." Fugaku said with evident pride.

"I see. That's all very amazing if you think about it actually." Sakura beamed, her hand reached out for Sasuke and she scratched behind his ear affectionately. Sasuke, becoming his playful self again, jumped in Sakura's lap and started playing around with her hand.

"However..." This time, it was Itachi-san who spoke. In a second Itachi was standing next to Sakura, his eyes lingering on to the fur ball in her lap.

_Wow! They really are fast!_ Sakura thought dumbly.

"There is one thing you must be careful of." Itachi spoke; his voice seemed ominous, as if he knew something that was haunting his being, "Humans are such queer beings aren't they Sakura? If anyone were to find out about this curse, they will immediately class us as some sort of mutants and send people after us, don't you agree?"

Sakura looked away from his piercing gaze. "I suppose it's true that …it might happen." She replied uncertainly.

Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-sama were making their way down the stairs._ I have done my part Itachi, now it is up to you to handle the rest._ Fugaku took one last glance at the girl and Itachi.

"Yes humans are quite strange. Fearing the unknown, without even knowing whether the unknown is good or bad." Itachi's tone had turned bitter, "Every person hangs on to what they believe as 'true' or 'correct', terming it as reality. But what really is 'true' or 'correct'... Merely vague conceptions…their reality may all be a mirage." He looked at Sakura's questioning eyes.

"What are you trying to say…?" Sakura asked stupefied.

"Sorry, Sakura…" That was the last thing that reached her ears, before she felt a pang of pain travel up the back of her neck. Slowly, everything began to fade to black, her consciousness slipping away. Her body became limp and was toppling forward, making the cat in her lap nervously jump away; however, Itachi caught her right on time.

Itachi carried the unconscious girl to her room, Sasuke following them in hurried steps. Once he had placed the girl on her bed, he turned to the cat waiting at the door. Itachi's usually calm expression faltered for a second, his eyes widened at slight shock at the sight he saw, before slipping back into that calm façade. His brother, still a feline, was wearing one of the most miserable looks he'd ever seen!

"Don't worry Sasuke, she'll be up in a couple of hours, I didn't strike her too severely." Itachi said in an assuring manner. Sasuke froze for a second, and then a puff of smoke engulfed him. Upon fading, the smoke revealed the real Sasuke, his expression had turned from miserable to satisfied, and he walked out of her room.

Itachi took a chair and sat next to Sakura's bed, looking intently at the girl. Itachi had seen something in his brother's eyes, something different from his usual indifference. _Was it misery…loneliness… that I saw in his eyes? I knew it Sasuke, this girl is important to you, and I know how you feel when you can't tell anyone about the curse. Perhaps this girl is your escape from that misery. Sasuke, don't worry, I'll make sure you can escape that misery somehow._

And with that Itachi fell deep into thought, waiting…

* * *

Sakura's eyes fluttered opened, it took a few seconds for her to figure out where she was. Sakura looked towards her left and saw a figure hunched over, apparently looking deep in thought.

"Oh, you're awake." The figure said, and she recognized it as Itachi-san's voice. Sakura tried to sit up, but in her attempt to do so, her head started throbbing. She held on to her head, attempting to soothe the pain.

"AH! What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Careful, you tripped on the stairs and hit your head." Itachi replied.

"Oh…how long have I been asleep?" Sakura asked, dazed.

"About an hour. That is quite amazing though, because we expected you'd be out longer." Itachi replied, a bit impressed.

"I had the weirdest dream though, something about cats and Uchihas and curses! Hahaha!" Sakura started laughing in embarrassment. She noted that Itachi was looking cautiously at the closed door of her room, his eyes moving back and forth between the door and her. "Itachi-san, are you okay?" She asked worriedly, trying to place a hand on his arm, as a sort o comforting gesture.

Itachi turned towards her automatically, causing her to stop what she was doing.

"Listen Sakura…everything you saw in your dream…was reality." Itachi spoke in a hushed tone. Sakura gaped at him in surprise, she wasn't expecting this. She snapped back to reality when she saw Itachi-san get up to leave, his lack of concentration showed that he was still thinking over what he had said.

"Wait!" Sakura said almost immediately, "You mean it is all true? ALL OF IT!" She spoke dumfounded, thinking it all a joke. But her suspicions were converted to belief when she saw Itachi-san nod solemnly. "But..." Everything seemed to come back to Sakura, and she became sure that she hadn't tripped on any stairs; she had been knocked out on purpose "but then why are you telling me? I mean hadn't you intended to keep it a secret?" Sakura asked.

Itachi closed his eyes, a smile on his face, "You see Sakura, this curse leads one to become completely introverted, and sometimes that leads to misery. I for one will not want my brother to suffer that misery… he saw you as some sort of escape, and the look on his face when I knocked you out…well it killed me to have caused that look. Thus, for my foolish little brother's sake, I've told you all this." Itachi focused his eyes on her, a dangerous glint in his eyes, "However, if you betray his, or my trust, the consequences will be dire."

Sakura smiled, instead of feeling threatened; somehow she had managed to see the threat as fake, meaning she knew Itachi-san had trusted her and he was sure that she wouldn't betray them.

"I won't. I promise."

Itachi smiled, "I know." And he exited the room.

* * *

A few hours later Sakura was descending the stairs to go to the kitchen, as it was almost dinnertime, and Sakura waned to help Mikoto-sama. She had to make sure she behaved the way she normally did. She couldn't give anyone the slightest hint that she knew it all.

When Sakura arrived in the kitchen she was met by a surprised Mikoto.

"Oh dear! You shouldn't be up and about so soon! I'll send your dinner to your room." Mikoto spoke before she had the chance to protest. Itachi appeared in the kitchen, along with the rest of the male members of the household.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san. She knows" Itachi stated plainly, gaining shocked looks from his family.

"Itachi, you mean your plan didn't work?" Mikoto-sama spoke. Fugaku looked his usual stern self.

"No, my plan worked fine, but I told her in any case."

"Itachi!" Fugaku-sama's voice broke in, leading to tense atmosphere all around. Sakura was scared; she chose to hide behind Mikoto-sama. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Tou-san, this curse is a blasted thing. You and I both know that already, but we were lucky…we had people who knew of our conditions. You had Kaa-san, and I had Shisui-san. But Sasuke doesn't have that luxury." Itachi spoke. That seemed to have silenced Fugaku, but the tension in the air remained still.

"Itachi-chan, Sasuke-chan, Sakura-chan…please sit down, I will speak with Fugaku." Mikoto-sama spoke up.

Fugaku and Mikoto left the kitchen, Sasuke and Itachi ushered Sakura to the table. Sasuke sat next to her this time and Itachi sat opposite the head chair, so as to sit next to Sakura. Sakura's face had paled, and she felt like crying…she had ruined the perfect little family atmosphere that once reigned in the Uchiha household. She felt like it was all her fault. Lowering her head in order to hide her inevitable tears, she apologized

"I'm sorry…" she choked out.

"You don't have to be sorry Sakura; in fact it should be me who should apologize." Itachi said, while Sakura said nothing, "that is I should apologize for hitting your head." Sakura smiled weakly in response, but kept her head lowered.

"Don't cry." It was Sasuke who spoke this time, his tone seemed almost remorseful, "Kaa-san will fix this." He soothed her. "However Itachi nii-san, you didn't have to do this for me. Now Tou-san will be angry with you."

"I can handle that on my own Sasuke."

"I could've handled myself on my own too!" Sasuke snapped.

"But you didn't have to, there was a choice, and I made it for you."Itachi replied calmly.

Sasuke opened his mouth in order to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him.

"Alright time for dinner." Mikoto said while smiling. Fugaku was already seated on his usual chair.

Throughout dinner, Sakura couldn't help but feel responsible for the tension around them. She didn't eat properly, but then again no one else did either.

Once they were finished, Sakura felt like she was going to explode from the atmosphere. She had to speak, say something that would give Fugaku-sama the hint that she would not do anything to betray him or his family.

"Excuse me." _Oh no I said that out loud!_ Sakura mentally slapped herself for not thinking things through. All yes were on her now, even the scary eyes of Fugaku-sama. _Well might as well say it now._ Sakura gathered up the courage she could muster.

"Fugaku-sama, I would like to tell you something." She looked directly at Fugaku-sama, "I…I know that Sharingan is supposed to be a secret, and now that I know about it, I will make sure to keep it a secret. I have no intention to give away any information which you do not wish me to give away. I will not betray your family's trust." Sakura looked at him with determination flaring inher eyes.

"Very well, Sakura, I will take your word for it." Fugaku-sama replied, with a hint of a smile on his face, though it was barely there. Fugaku couldn't do much else, in fact he agreed with Itachi…Sasuke was having a more difficult time due to the fact that he had no one. Also, this girl seemed to have this strange charm about her…one that compelled him to believe her.

* * *

"Sasuke! Come with me right now!" Naruto yelled.

"Why? What do you want dobe?" Sasuke asked, clearly vexed.

"Sasuke, as you know, we have a test tomorrow, and if you don't help me I'm going to FAIL!" Naruto screamed.

"Dobe I can't." Sasuke replied, while staring at the sky outside.

"Come on Sasuke-teme!" Naruto dropped to his knees and groveled at Sasuke's feet. Sasuke was glad no one was there to see this, save for Sakura, who was waiting for the two of them to get a move on. It was Tuesday, the last day of September, and sadly it was also one of those days when rainfall was inevitable.

_DAMN! Naruto's going to get a beating if he doesn't let Sasuke-kun go. I have to do something to help, otherwise he'll transform in front of this loud mouth._ Sakura thought frantically.

"Naruto you dobe, let go!" Sasuke was getting edgy.

"Alright fine! You don't need to tutor me; I'll get someone else to do that, like maybe Hinata…" Naruto said to himself.

_Lucky for me the situation solved itself._ Sakura smiled triumphantly, that is until…

"But just come with me to my house Sasuke." _Oh God! Why doesn't Naruto get anything through his thick skull?_

"No dobe I can't!" Sasuke replied while waking away from him, but Naruto persistent as ever, wouldn't let Sasuke go.

"Sasuke what is up with you?" Naruto asked him, worry evident in his voice, "You've been acting so differently ever since the vacations. What's wrong? You haven't even spoken much to me, It's like you're completely ignoring me! You're not doing anything illegal are you?"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled in an attempt to stop him, but he wouldn't listen.

"Dobe! Let me go!" Sasuke yelled, and punched Naruto. Naruto ended up flat on the floor, while Sasuke stormed out, in a hurry.

Once Sasuke had left the room, Sakura saw Naruto stand up slowly.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura asked making her way over to the poor boy.

"…yeah…" Naruto spoke in a crestfallen voice, "Sakura-chan, sometimes I think Sasuke doesn't want o be my friend anymore, as if I'm losing my best friend." Naruto sulked.

"Naruto…"Sakura spoke in a concerned voice.

"GAH! Sasuke that TEME!" Naruto yelled exasperated, ruffling his hair in worry. "I hope he doesn't end up doing anything to hurt himself…or his friends…"

"Naruto, don't worry about Sasuke-kun. Sometimes he may seem a little introverted, but I know he'll never do anything to hurt his friends. Sasuke-kun, he really cares about his friends." Sakura told Naruto soothingly.

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto said, then he beamed, "Does this mean you'll go out with me?"

Sakura face-faulted, "BAKA! WHERE"D YOU GET THAT IDEA?" Sakura yelled at him.

Then the two of them left the empty class room.

* * *

Sasuke had transformed into a cat the second he had left the classroom. It was a close call too; otherwise that loud-mouthed idiot would've seen him. Sasuke had lingered at the door to the classroom, listening to what the two had been saying.

Sakura was right, Sasuke really did care about his friends and he never wanted to hurt them. Suddenly he felt very guilty for punching Naruto; he'd have to do something to help him out later, to apologize to him. After all Naruto was only concerned about him, right?

* * *

The next day, before the Math class, in which the test was supposed to take place, there was a free lesson. Sasuke had decided that he'd explain some math to Naruto, as an apology to him for the previous day. Sasuke knew Naruto would understand that his gesture was an apology.

Sasuke walked towards Naruto, stopping at his desk.

"Hey Naruto, I decided that I'd help you with some math." Sasuke said, knowing Naruto would understand.

Naruto looked at him, "No thanks Sasuke, Hinata here…" Naruto grabbed Hinata by the shoulder, causing the girl to blush, "already helped me out!"

A vein popped in Sasuke's head, this idiot. He wasn't supposed to decline, he was supposed to accept, and then they'd be even. _Maybe I give this idiot to much credit._ Sasuke thought as he walked away.

"Oi teme, apology accepted by the way." Naruto told Sasuke with a smug smirk.

Sasuke countered with a smirk of his own…no matter how stupid Naruto was, Sasuke knew that he'd always understand him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Please tell me what you think, eventhough i think this chap sucks .**

* * *

Sasuke entered the classroom that Wednesday, not ever expecting to see what he saw before him; Nara Shikamaru was sitting next to Yamanaka Ino, smiling in the goofy way all love struck idiots do.

_What the hell? Are those two…?_ Sasuke's thoughts trailed off as the bell rang, and Ino pecked Shikamaru on the cheek, before he made his way back to his seat. _And here I thought Shikamaru found all this too 'troublesome'. Heh! Idiots._ Sasuke thought to himself as he sat down.

His partner soon seated herself next to him, sighing in a dreamy tone. Kurenai-sensei arrived in class right on time and began her lesson. She gave a short lecture, and handed out worksheets. In the midst of completing the worksheet, Sasuke took out a piece of paper, and scribbled down a note, slipping it subtly to Sakura.

"_Since when did Ino get with Shikamaru?"_

Sakura read it and replied, passing the note to him.

"_Well, about two weeks ago, it was Ino's birthday. You remember, the day I came home later than usual."_

"_Oh yeah the day you had my Kaa-san worried sick about you." _Sakura flinched when she read that.

"_Hey I did call you to tell you I'd be home late, so it's your fault for not sending the message on. But anyway, that day, we went to the mall, and Ino dragged Shikamaru along. The whole time he was complaining about how troublesome it was, and how annoying everything is and all that. But it turned out, the next day he bought her a necklace that she had her eye on, so that's where it all began. KYAAA! Isn't that so cute?"_

"_Hn. You are such a girl."_ Sasuke smirked when Sakura sent him a death glare.

"_Well that's because I am a girl. Seriously you have no sense when it comes to love, Sasuke-kun, even though you have billions of girls who follow you around, confessing their undying love for you."_

"_Whatever." _Sasuke replied while turning away, in slight embarrassment, causing Sakura to giggle.

"_Sorry, please don't get mad at me."_

"_Hn, you really are annoying." _Sasuke smiled to himself.

"_Isn't Naruto's birthday coming up soon?"_

"_Yeah it's on Friday. I bet the dobe's going to call us to his place to celebrate."_

"_Well that's good"_

"_How so?"_

"_Well Naruto was really worried that you were mad at him or something, and that the two of you hadn't hung out the past few weeks, so maybe this party will relieve him of that tension."_

"_Yeah, that's true. I just hope it doesn't rain that day or anything otherwise; I'm not going to be able to stay at his place for a long time. Plus then I won't have any fun."_

"_Yeah I hope it doesn't rain either." _

_Because Naruto won't have much fun if you're not there, _Sakura thought to herself.

* * *

"Hey all of you are invited to my place this Friday!" Naruto told the eleven people sitting on the bench during break.

"Why?" Kiba asked. Naruto face-faulted, his face turning red,

"What do you mean 'Why'? You idiot don't you even know it's my birthday? What kind of a friend are you fanged freak!" Naruto yelled in frustration.

"What did you call me?" Kiba asked furiously and started brawling with Naruto.

"So everyone's coming right?" Ino asked the rest of the, more sane, people.

"YEAH!" was the instant reply.

Of course everyone would come. For the past few weeks, the twelve of them hadn't done anything together, and with exams coming in the next few months, this was the perfect time to party.

* * *

When Friday finally arrived, Sasuke found himself being pulled into Sakura's room, by a very flustered looking Sakura. Not only that, but her bed was filled with various clothes lying about.

"Sasuke-kun I need your help." Sakura stated pleadingly, Sasuke just looked at her confused, "Well you see, usually I'd ask Ino, but since she's not here, you're the only one I have." Sakura explained.

"Well what do you want?" Sasuke asked, almost afraid of what she'd say.

"I have no clue what to wear!" Sakura exclaimed, leaving Sasuke to sweat drop.

"That's what you want?" Sasuke asked incredulously, Sakura nodded and started showing him various clothes.

"Should I wear this? Or maybe this?" Sakura went rambling on about how some piece of clothing matched her eyes or something.

"Look Sakura, I really don't know, just wear anything you want!" Sasuke replied.

Stifled laughter was heard coming from the door, and turning around Sasuke saw Itachi standing there, trying to refrain from laughing.

"Foolish little brother, you should give poor little Sakura here your opinion of her clothes. Really, you know nothing about girls." Itachi told his brother.

"Well if you know so much, why don't you just tell her what to wear." Sasuke taunted.

"Alright. Sakura you should wear that." He said pointing to a purple shirt lying on the bed.

"This?" Sakura took it, then smiled, "Yes this is perfect! Thank you Itachi-san." Sakura replied enthusiastically.

"Yes I'm sure you will look very nice in that." Itachi stated, causing Sakura to blush.

Itachi smirked triumphantly at Sasuke, who just stormed out.

"_Yes I'm sure you will look very nice in that." _Sasuke mocked his brother in his head, _whatever…Sakura would have looked nice in anything she wore anyway…_ Sasuke felt his cheeks heat up at what he just thought. _This is what happens when Itachi irritates me, I can't think straight. _Sasuke told himself and slumped into a sofa in the sitting room, waiting for Sakura to get ready so that they could leave.

A few minutes later Sakura opened the door to her room, slightly surprised to see Sasuke waiting for her. Sasuke didn't wait a second longer, and immediately started walking down the stairs.

"Come on Sakura, otherwise the dobe will eat my head for being late." Sasuke yelled from below the stairs.

_See, I knew she'd look nice no matter what she wears. _Sasuke thought to himself as he walked towards Naruto's house, with Sakura next to him.

Sakura was wearing the purple shirt Itachi had said, and a skirt that reached a little above her knees. Her hair was down, but half of it was in a ponytail. She was wearing some dangling earrings too, and a bracelet.

Suddenly she just stopped in her tracks, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, I was wondering, if we show up together… well won't it seem a bit strange, because Naruto might think we came from the same place." Sakura said uncertainly.

"The dobe is way too clueless." Sasuke replied

"But what about the others?" Sakura said pointedly.

"Hmm. Well if you are so worried about someone finding out that you live in the Uchiha household, then here's what we do. You go in first, and I'll wait around for a few minutes, coming in later."

Sakura went according to plan, and fortunately, no one discovered her secret.

* * *

The next day Sakura woke up quite early, despite it being a Sunday. Lazily she made her way to the bathroom, washing up slowly. She was feeling extremely downcast, well that was normal, after all it was the eleventh of October.

When she was done taking a shower, she slowly dried off, and wore her clothes. She made her way down stairs, grabbing her purse and a spare key. She wasn't really expecting anyone to be up so early, being a Sunday and all, but despite that she saw Mikoto-sama in the kitchen, reading a newspaper.

"Good morning Mikoto-sama." Sakura said cheerfully.

Mikoto-sama put down her newspaper, and looked, surprised, at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing up so early?" Mikoto-sama asked surprise clearly audible in her tone. Sakura knew she was surprised at seeing her up so early, but she was certain the woman was more surprised at Sakura's attire. That day Sakura was dressed in all black.

"I have to…visit my parents…" Sakura spoke, clearly dismal. "I might be a while, so please do not wait up for me for breakfast."

Mikoto-sama got up and hugged the girl, "Oh I'm sorry sweetie, but don't you want breakfast first?"

"No thank you, I have to go now." Sakura pulled away and walked out the door.

When Sakura arrived at the graveyard, she felt a wave of melancholy wash over her. She went over to her parents' graves, and slumped to the ground. The place was quite empty, except for a few people who were scattered over the graveyard, mourning. Sakura placed a few white lilies at the graves, a few tears slipping down her face onto the concrete floor beneath her. A soft breeze blew by, causing trees to rustle, and her hair to flow slightly. The sun was scattering it's light over the place, there were no birds in the sky, no noise what so ever. Sakura sat there staring blankly at the names chiseled into the concrete slabs. The whole atmosphere turned peaceful, the silence was somewhat calming.

" Kaa-chan, Tou-san, how are you? I don't live with uncle anymore, but you already know that right? I hope all of you are doing well. I'm fine, too. I got to live in the Uchiha household now, and they are all such nice people. Mikoto-sama reminds me so much of you Kaa-chan." Sakura said smiling. "And school is going great. You remember Ino right? She is with Shikamaru now, and Tenten is with Neji. Yesterday was Naruto's birthday; it was a lot of fun!" Sakura said enthusiastically. "Also, this year I finally made friends with Sasuke-kun too!" That was the last thing she said, after which Sakura just sat there, enjoying the presence of her parents' spirits around her.

* * *

It was around eleven in the morning when Sasuke woke up, along with his brother. Both of them made their way to the kitchen, met by a whole load of breakfast waiting at the table.

Sasuke sat down, but then noted that someone was missing.

"Is Sakura still asleep?" Sasuke asked his mother.

Mikoto sighed remorsefully, "No she's out somewhere."

"At this time?" Sasuke asked incredulously. Mikoto was about to answer, but then she heard the door open.

"I'm home." Sakura announced and walked towards the kitchen, met by the members of the Uchiha household, minus Fugaku-sama.

Obviously they too were surprised by her attire, because they stopped eating just to stare. Sakura smiled, and took a seat next to Sasuke, helping herself to breakfast.

"Where were you?" Sasuke asked her

"Oh, um with my parents'" Sakura replied, avoiding any eye contact.

"Well you boys wasted half the day just sleeping away!" Mikoto cut in purposefully, "Sasuke you have to come with me to the grocery store today, so be ready after breakfast. Sakura would you like to come too?"

"Oh um no thank you Mikoto-sama, I'd like to help but I…" Sakura was cut in by Sasuke.

"It's alright Sakura, we understand." He said consolingly.

* * *

Sakura locked herself up in her room, sitting on her bed, hugging her knees. Her mind kept wandering to the party the day before. It had been perfect, music, dancing, talking, laughing, food, prank call and a movie. It had been perfect, up until the end. Just as the blaring music had died down the day before, it seemed to Sakura that happiness in her life had died down with it.

She kept thinking of all the things her friends had, and all those things she lacked. All her friends had parents, their own house, money, and Ino even had a guy friend now. But what about her? She had none of that!

Sakura found herself walking towards the sitting room, dazed and spaced out. She slumped into a single sofa, hugging her knees. She allowed silent tears to flow out of her eyes. She felt completely useless, she had nothing, not even happiness, and yet her friends wasted away their lives in that happiness which would never have. A wave of anger rushed in her veins, she felt furious, angry, and jealous? No it was something greater… hatred. She hated her friends! Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and shock.

_No that's not possible! I can not hate my friends! What sort of a horrible person would hate their own friends?_ Sakura broke down into more frustrated tears.

Itachi appeared from the stairs, and saw the girl hunched over. He hurried over to her side, and asked in genuine concern.

"Sakura? Are you alright?"

"Oh!" Sakura squeaked in surprise, quickly wiping away her tears, "Yes, yes I'm fine." Sakura faked a smile.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?" he said sarcastically.

"…Itachi-san, do you think it is right for a person to hate their own friends, just because they have something you don't?" Sakura asked guiltily.

"Hate… I don't think it's so easy to hate someone you care about. I think that humans find it so easy to term short term feelings of dislike as 'hate'. But actually, I'm sure you don't hate your friends." Itachi said, "Perhaps, it is only natural for human beings to feel jealous."

Sakura suddenly felt like crying all over again, so she embraced Itachi. Otachi rubbed her back consolingly.

"I'm a horrible person!" she wailed into his chest.

"No Sakura you are not. It is only natural to feel unhappy when you lose someone you love. However, through time you make other bonds, and though they do not replace the other ones, they are a good substitution. Sakura, can you tell me why you haven't told anyone that you are an orphan?"

Sakura thought before speaking, "I made a promise to myself that I'd never tell anyone of my misery, and make them miserable too." She spoke.

"Well that there just proves it. If you hated your friends you'd want them to be miserable, instead of protecting them from a misery they know not about."

Sakura felt better now, Itachi always had a way with words. Sakura embraced him more, thanking him profusely.

* * *

Sasuke came up the stairs, only to find Itachi and Sakura hugging in the middle of the sitting room, completely unaware of their surroundings.

"Oh Sasuke-kun your home!" Sakura said, cheerfully.

Sasuke just shrugged and walked past them to his room. Once he had locked the door he found himself clenching his teeth and fist simultaneously, something at the pit of his stomach was gnawing on his insides. The sight of Sakura and Itachi…he just didn't like it! First it was the whole clothes thing and now this! What was Itachi trying to do? Moreover, why was Sakura playing along with it? Sasuke couldn't help but feel angry.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n:-**

**Well finally this chapter is up. it is longer than the other few chapters, although i think it turned out fine.**

**Dear readers please enjoy! and please tell me what you think. THANK YOU! ^-^**

* * *

Autumn was at its peak. Trees had become bare, and those that hadn't were barely clad with yellowing, dull leaves. Days were becoming shorter and nights grew longer, signifying the inevitable arrival of winter. With the passing of October, and November taking its place, Sasuke found that there had been a lot of drastic changes in his life, ignoring, of course, the weather change.

All throughout October, Sasuke had been irritated. He had noted, much to his displeasure, the bond that had erected between Itachi and Sakura. He had watched as Itachi teased Sakura, made her laugh at dinner over some small jokes and even drive her to work once! It irked him to no end knowing that his brother was once again ahead of him, even if it was in something as trivial as winning Sakura's companionship. However, with the arrival of November, that bond had become limited due to the fact Itachi had to work a lot more, causing him to be in and out of the house at odd times.

Though that was not the only change that had occurred. Something was strange about Sakura ever since November began. She had been keeping to herself a lot more than usual, locking herself in her room for most of the day. She would only come out a little before meal times to help in the kitchen, and stay a few minutes afterwards to help clear up, or to go to work. However other than that, she would stay in her room, not so much as making a sound. Also, she had made it clear that she did not wish to be disturbed. Even in school she would refrain from passing any notes, her mind focusing solely on the lecture.

Sasuke had found that he got to see Sakura less and less, meaning he couldn't talk much with her. His only consolation was the fact that at least he got to see Sakura more than Itachi and that victory enough for him. However, he did miss Sakura's ever cheerful presence lingering around him. Even in school, he could not speak to her one on one anymore; it was always in a group, especially after she completely ended the passing of notes situation.

What made matters worse for Sasuke was the fact that with the cold weather of November arriving, the rarity of rainfall had also increased. Usually Sasuke would have been glad that rainfall had decreased, but that meant that he could not spend that time with Sakura.

Many times Sasuke had wished to ask Sakura if something was wrong with her, but then he would decide against it at the last moment, cussing himself later for being so stupid and giving up.

"_What the heck is wrong with this girl?" _Sasuke thought to himself while sitting on a sofa, reading one of his school books. _"I wonder…could I have said anything to cause her to go in this state?"_ Sasuke pondered, thinking back top the last REAL conversation he had had with Sakura, which, I might add, had been in late October…_ "No… I don't recall saying anything of the kind…"_ Sasuke told himself thinking back to the last conversation he had had.

* * *

_It had been one of those rare days in October in which it had started to and Sakura were sitting in the sitting room, staring at the windows as the pitter patter of rain fell gently to the ground._

_Sasuke sat in Sakura's lap, as she stroked his fur gently; him on the other hand, playing with the hem of her skirt with his tiny paws. They sat there in complete silence, until Sakura decidedto break it._

"_Don't you just love the rain Sasuke-kun?" she asked, as she stopped stroking the cat's fur._

_The cat bobbed its head up in disapproval, clearly not liking the fact that she had stopped with the calming gesture._

"_No." the cat uttered, "I don't. At least not any more, you know ever since THIS happened." Sasuke had been able to gain control of his cat mind for some time now, and was now able to speak. He decided he would learn to gain control of his cat mind, just to prove to his father that he was not as weak-willed as he made him out to be._

"_Well, whatever the case is, I still love rain. I think it has this strange cleansing effect with it." Sakura said, paying no heed to the amused smirk that was gracing the cat's features. "What I mean to say is, that whenever it rains, everything becomes clean and pure, as if they have a new life or something…Like all the previous blemishes are no longer there, a fresh start so to speak."_

"_Wow Sakura, I never thought YOU could think so deeply about things." Sasuke replied smugly._

"_Just because you don't doesn't mean that other people can't." Sakura replied, while scratching the cat's ear playfully. Silence ensued, as Sasuke decided not to respond to the insult, and merely enjoy the feeling of having your ear scratched._

"_Sasuke-kun, why do _you_ play soccer anyway?" Sakura asked after a while. Sasuke bobbed his head up once again, a scowl on his face. The way Sakura had said that made it sound like she doubted his GREAT SKILLS!_

"_What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked bitterly._

"_It means exactly what it sounds like." Sakura replied, confused at his bitter tone, "Why do you play soccer if you can't risk anyone finding about the curse?"_

_Sasuke felt very stupid all of a sudden, "Well that's what makes soccer so convenient." Sasuke stated simply, smirking at the confused look she gave him, "You see, we play in an open field, so if ever it rains, practice is cancelled indefinitely…plus the fact that Shisui ni-san is the coach helps a lot."_

"_Who?" _

"_Uchiha Shisui, he's my brother's best friend. He makes sure to cancel practice if there's even a hint of clouds in the sky! But of course our team is so good, that we don't need that much practice anyway." Sasuke stated proudly, "but he still makes up make up for missed practices…" Sasuke continued as Sakura giggled._

"_Sakura you haven't been to any of our games have you?"_

"_No. I mean I'd like to but it usually clashes with my work timings." Sakura replied, almost wistfully. Sasuke placed his head back on his paws, closing his eyes in a relaxed posture._

"_Sakura where do you work anyway?" Sasuke asked, curiously._

'_Oh, well, you've heard of 'Hon Books' right?" Sakura earned a nod, "Well I work there. I love being surrounded by books, it's like there's a whole new world at every corner!" Sakura spoke bubbling with excitement._

"_Aa." Sasuke just sweat-dropped at the prospect of getting excited over books! "You really are weird." Sakura's hand stopped at that instant, her eyes wide. Sasuke looked at her curious expression, noting that she was looking out the window, seemingly lost somewhere else. Sasuke followed her line of sight out the window, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary; just a woman who was walking away. Sasuke was a bit confused at what he saw in her eyes…regret? Fear? He couldn't exactly place it._

"_Sasuke-kun, I um, have to go…" Sakura said after a while, and Sasuke, reluctantly, jumped out of her lap, looking up at her curiously._

'_Is something wrong?" he asked, but she seemed as if she hadn't heard, and left for her room, in what seemed like a flustered state._

* * *

_I don't think she was upset about anything I said…_Sasuke thought to himself, sparing a glance at her door._ But then what? _Sasuke wondered irritated, as he shut the text book he had been reading. Walking over to his own room, he glanced at the clock. He hastened his steps, realizing he had to meet up with his team for practice in half an hour.

* * *

Sakura left for her job a few minutes after Sasuke had left for practice. Her eyes darted left and right, scanning the area cautiously, taking in every detail of her surroundings. Once she was sure of the normality of her surroundings, she sighed in relief and continued on her way. She couldn't help it… she was tense since that day…the day she had last spoken to Sasuke in his feline form. Unable to come up with a solution to dissolve her tension, Sakura decided it best to just stay in her room and ponder, ponder over what to do. However, she had not been very successful in coming up with a solution, thus she found her salvation in her books once again; she had started studying excessively, well aware of the fact that her mid-year exams were on the way. Although nothing about the excessive studying part was queer on Sakura's end (Because she made it a point to start preparation for exams a month prior ever since her parent's death, remembering how she was disturbed for so long, unable to study, and then her grades turned out to be complete trash!), but the tension that had wrapped around every fiber of her being was definitely unsettling!

_What am I so worried about any way? _Sakura thought to herself, _it's not like she would ever come back again…right?_ Sakura gulped at her uncertainty.

About three hours later, Sakura found herself making her way back to the Uchiha household, the same nerve-wracking tension creeping up inside of her._ Stop it! Stop worrying so much! There is no way that that woman would ever return! _Sakura berated herself. That seemed to have worked, but moments later, when she was standing at the doorstep of the Uchiha household, she felt her stomach knotting up. She could hear the voices of Mikoto-sama… but there was also someone else…and much to Sakura's displeasure, it was a voice she was quite familiar with.

Working up the nerve to open the door, Sakura plastered a smile on her face like she had so many times before. Opening the door and walking towards the source of the voices, which seemed to be the kitchen, Sakura stopped at the doorframe. Her insides felt stiff, her shoulders tensed at the site that she had already been expecting.

"Oh Sakura-chan, you're back," Mikoto-sama got up from her seat, "Someone is here to meet you. An Aunt of yours…" Mikoto-sama said motioning towards a black-haired woman sitting at the table. The woman, who had been watching Sakura intently, walked towards Sakura, instantly pulling her into a hug.

"Sakura! I'm so glad you are alright!" The woman parted to get a good look at Sakura, "Since I heard about the death of your uncle, I came all the way just to look for you."

Sakura stood speechless, looking at the raven-haired woman, until it seemed like she had come out of her shock and replied, "Aunty, you didn't have to…" she said uncertainly. Gazing into the eyes of the raven-haired woman before her, Sakura could see that the woman was feigning worry, that she had something planned. Her eyes seemed al most threatening to sakura, which compelled her to play along. Of course, Mikoto-sama could not have seen any of this, as the woman had so smartly, kept her back towards Mikoto-sama, disabling her from seeing the woman's eyes. _So, all this looks completely natural to her,_ Sakura thought absently.

"Well I was just about to make tea, so why don't you two just sit down." Mikoto-sama cut in, being her hospitable self.

"No, no, Mikoto-sama." Sakura smiled at her, "I'll do it." Sakura offered walking over towards the stove.

"Alright then, I'll go do the laundry. You two can chat." Mikoto-sama said leaving the kitchen. Sakura felt that there was some reluctance in her departure, but she chose to ignore that at the moment, focusing her mind to the matter at hand.

Shifting her eyes towards the woman, Sakura looked over at her sternly. The woman smirked triumphantly at Sakura, unnerving her slightly, but Sakura refrained from showing it.

"Kin, why are you here?' Sakura asked seriously.

"What? Sakura are you not glad to see me?" _Kin_ replied, the smirk never leaving her face. "You've really gotten yourself a good place to live."

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked, her tone demanding. Kin smirked again,

"I'm here to take you." She replied plainly, "Otherwise, the consequences will be dire." She glanced at a picture of the Uchiha family, which was innocently hanging on the wall, she glared threateningly at Sakura. Sakura managed to keep her cool façade, "That won't be necessary…I will come with you willingly."

As if on cue, the kettle on the stove began to screech, a sign that tea was ready. Mikoto-sama arrived in the kitchen almost instantly, her smile fading at the tense atmosphere around her. Taking a seat next to Sakura, opposite the woman, sipping her tea. Mikoto glanced over at Sakura, who seemed to be crestfallen all of a sudden.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" Mikoto-sama asked concerned. Before sakura could reply, Kin answered for her,

"Sakura decided that she would come stay with me, instead of being a burden on you and your family." Kin said, as if almost deliberately trying to make Sakura feel worse.

'Sakura are you sure? You don't have to leave because you aren't a burden on us." Mikoto-sama said incredulously.

"Yes, I …" Sakura broke into sobs, Mikoto-sama embracing her, trying to fight back the sinking feeling washing over her as well.

_This sucks! Everything is all wrong!_ Sakura thought frustrated as she packed up her belongings into her bag. _What's worse is that Kin's plan is working so perfectly, everything seems so natural._

Stuffing the final things into her bag, Sakura made her way out of her room, meeting Itachi on the way. Itachi's gaze lingered on her bags before he actually spoke, "You're leaving?" he asked casually, even though his eyes showed that he was truly upset.

Sakura couldn't look him in the eyes, afraid that fresh tears would cascade down her face.

"Yes..." she replied quietly, and almost instinctively she embraced Itachi. She hoped that somehow this action would make her feel better, like it had so many times ago. However, this time it only made her feel worse.

"Goodbye, Itachi-san. I'll miss you." She said, fighting back the tears that were threatening to break loose.

'Aa." Itachi said, embracing her back. When they parted Sakura handed Itachi a piece of paper, telling him not to open it, but to give it to Sasuke when he came back. Then looking one last time around the house, and bidding farewell to Mikoto-sama, and Fugaku-sama who had just arrived home, Sakura left. For good.

* * *

Sasuke arrived home a little before dinner. He was supposed to be home hours ago but, after practice, he had been dragged away by Naruto and a few of his other friends to the arcade. It had been good for him, he thought, because his previous worry over Sakura's uncanny behavior had dissipated, and he returned home feeling elated.

He never would have guessed that Sakura's current behavior was natural for her, well only during exam seasons that is. _If it hadn't been for Hinata, I would have died of curiosity!_ Sasuke told himself, relieved that he had nothing to do with her behavior, otherwise he might have had to apologize… and everyone knew that Uchiha Sasuke could not apologize to anyone, at least not with ease.

"_Sakura-chan always gets this way before exams, I don't know why exactly, but she just does. It is a recently acquired habit though…"_ Hinata had said. Sasuke guessed that if Hinata didn't know the cause and that it was a recently acquired habit, then it must have something to do with her parents…and Sasuke knew she'd tell him if he asked, after all, he had her trust and vice versa.

When Sasuke entered the kitchen for dinner, he noted something was off. For one, there was a melancholic silence lingering in the kitchen, and there was something else, something important.

"Isn't Sakura coming down for dinner?" Sasuke inquired as he took his designated seat. He noticed his parents share a look, while Itachi just frowned. "Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke…" Mikoto started tenderly, but stopped when Fugaku took over.

"Sasuke, Sakura has left. Her Aunt came to take her a while ago." Fugaku stated, seemingly unconcerned.

"Oh." Sasuke stated plainly, slipping on a mask of indifference. However on the inside Sasuke was furious, and somewhat hurt.

Dinner ended in silence, and after that Sasuke excused himself to his room, missing the concerned look that crossed Mikoto and Itachi's face. Lying down on his bed, Sasuke glared at the ceiling. His thoughts were jumbled; anger, confusion and hurt all swirled through his head in a mess. He couldn't understand why Sakura would just leave like that, he felt betrayed, but what was worse was the fact that she did not even bother to stay long enough to say good-bye to him. Wasn't he her friend too? Sasuke turned to his right, away from the door, when he heard a knock on his door.

"What?" Sasuke growled in irritation, sitting up so that he could really lash out his anger on whoever was at the door.

"Sasuke," It was Itachi, just perfect…

"What do you want, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, clearly irked by his older brother's presence.

"Well, I have something for you. Sakura left this for and she told me to give it to you when she was leaving." Itachi said, walking over to his brother, a piece of paper in his hand. Sasuke's fury increased tenfold, how could Sakura say good-bye to Itachi, and not wait for HIM? An angry growl escaped Sasuke's lips, as he snatched the paper from a collected Itachi. Without bothering to read over it, Sasuke just tossed it on his bed.

"Aren't you even going to read it?" Itachi asked, cocking his brow.

"Why should I? If it was anything important, she would have bothered to say it to my face." Sasuke retorted, his anger flaring.

"So this is what it's about. Look Sasuke, Sakura wanted to stay longer, but her Aunt was a bit persistent in leaving immediately." Itachi said, trying to calm his brother down.

"Oh yeah, her Aunt…" Sasuke replied sarcastically, "Yet she made time for you!" Sasuke yelled angrily. Sasuke couldn't stand it, losing to his brother was one of his greatest peeves.

"Sasuke…you need to understand this, I was just at home at the right time, just plain coincident." Itachi said, "Sakura…she really cares about you Sasuke, you should understand that. She decided it best to leave, and you and I both know that she thinks things through before she does them, so I'm sure she has her reasons." With that, Itachi left Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

_Damnit! I hate it when he's right. Damn know-it-all. _Sasuke cussed in agitation. He glanced at the note that had been so _courteously_ left for him. Opening the note, Sasuke read over it.

_Dear Sasuke-kun,_

_I'm sorry I couldn't say good-bye to you face to face, but I had to leave as soon as possible. I'm not sure if I'll be able to see you anytime soon, but for what it's worth, I'd like to say that I will miss you a lot. I really enjoyed all the time I was able to spend with you, and I'm glad I had the chance to get to know you better. Thank you for being there for me when no one else could be._

_Sakura._

Sasuke couldn't understand why, but somehow the words on that piece of paper denoted that she was saying good-bye for good. _I'm not sure if I'll be able to see you anytime soon, _the words played over and over in his head, like a haunting melody that appears again and again, despite being unwanted._ What does she mean? Isn't she coming to school tomorrow? Annoying girl…_

* * *

The next day, the whole class was met with the biggest shock in their lives; Haruno Sakura, the number one student who never once in her life had missed a single day of school, was absent. It took some time to register the fact that the seat next to Sasuke would remain void of the pink haired, green-eyed, bubbly girl. However, a certain red-head was quick to take advantage of that fact. Karin saw her opportunity to finally sit next to Sasuke, and just before the lesson began, she told the sensei that she was unable to see from the back due to the fact that she had 'forgotten' her glasses at home. The sensei allowed her to occupy the front seat, next to Sasuke, much to his displeasure.

The whole day, all Sasuke heard out of her mouth was "Oh Sasuke-kun!" and the rest was just blah blah blah. He wanted to just escape from her constant squeals! But unfortunately, Sasuke had to bear with her the whole day. Near the end of the day Sasuke heard Ino and Tenten talking amongst themselves,

"I wonder why Sakura isn't here today; I hope nothing bad happened to her or anything." Ino said to herself.

"I thought you called her yesterday. Did she sound strange to you?" Tenten asked.

Ino laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "Well, I, I called at 2 in the morning so she didn't pick up any way." Sasuke sweat dropped upon over hearing this; did this idiot actually have so much time on her hands?

'Ino…you…" Tenten sweat dropped at her friend's antics.

* * *

When Sasuke returned home, he was glad that the hectic Friday was over. But he could not however, keep his mind from wandering back to Sakura; she was never absent, even if she was feeling ill. What made him even more curious was the note, the fact that Sakura had been aware that she might not see him…It made him wonder if everything really was fine.

Agitated, Sasuke decided to call Sakura's cell phone, and ask her if she was alright. However, he was aggravated to find that there was no signal. Her phone was off. A surge of worry flowed through Sasuke, he instantly grabbed the note he had gotten the day before. After rereading it, he was sure, doubtless that something was definitely wrong.

_Who exactly is this aunt of hers? Where did she take Sakura?_ Sasuke practically ran down the stairs, searching the area for his mother.

"Kaa-san!" Sasuke said as he spotted her, "Kaa-san, I need to talk to you."

"Sasuke-chan how is Sakura-chan? Did she come to school today?" Mikoto started asking instead of listening to Sasuke, obviously she too was missing her only female companion she had in the house.

"No. That's what I want to talk about." Sasuke replied solemnly, while Mikoto looked at her son curiously, "Did Sakura say where she was going? I'd like to see her."

"As a matter of fact, Sakura said she was going back where she came from, so I assume she's going back to the alley house that she had." Mikoto spoke thoughtfully.

Sasuke's suspicions materialized into firm conviction; he knew that Sakura was in trouble, or at least, she was unhappy. "Kaa-san, I have to go. Don't wait up for me, I might take long." Sasuke said, while walking away.

"Alright, but where are you going?" Mikoto asked her son, although she had some idea where he was headed.

Sasuke stopped shortly at the door before replying, determination clear in his voice, "I'm going to bring Sakura back." With that he left Mikoto standing in the hallway, a contented smile on her face, although she was baffled as to why Sasuke seemed so…perturbed…

* * *

Sakura was scared. That was something she could not deny. However, she refused to give her 'Aunt' the satisfaction of knowing that her tactics were getting to her. She had made the choice herself; she would sacrifice anything if it meant keeping the Uchihas safe…to keep Sasuke safe…

Since she had come back to this wretched place, Sakura had found out the motive that Kin had for bringing her. Upon arrival, Kin had her accomplice, Zaku was the name, throw Sakura's stuff in the room that used to belong to her. Almost immediately after, the two of them had searched through her things for their desired object. However, when they could not find it, they turned to Sakura threateningly, and asked her where she had put it, to which Sakura fibbed that she had no idea what they were on about.

"The check book and the password DAMNIT!" she heard Kin holler in anger.

"Oh those, I'm afraid I don't have that in my belongings…" Sakura said, but her fib was caught when Zaku exclaimed that he had found the check book.

"So you little brat you thought you could lie to me?" Kin yelled, "Now just give the password, and the details to me. Tell me where they are!" She demanded.

Sakura pointed to her head, saying that all the details had been stored up in her memory. Zaku cackled at her reply, stating that he could always get it out of her, cracking his knuckles for effect.

"No, for now we leave her without any food until she cracks. And I'm sure she'll crack soon." Kin said and locked Sakura in her room.

Sakura had stayed there the whole night, barely even slept. She kept telling herself that she would not give up, she'd stay strong, and she would not betray her father by giving away his accounts' details to this crook of a lady. Sakura remembered when her father was alive; this crook had been after her father's bank money, and she had given up pursuit when Sakura started living with her uncle. Sakura's uncle had been a strong man, one that was able to protect himself, which was probably why, Sakura assumed, Kin had given up on the money. But now that she and found out that Sakura was alone, and defenseless, she chose to strike… just like a coward!

Sakura also knew that the woman was dangerous, after all she knew what the consequences of her hatred were…she had seen it once, and that alone was enough for her to make her decision.

The next morning, when Sakura heard the door opening she became alert, her eyes glowing with utter determination. Zaku entered, with Kin following suit.

"You held out pretty well, but I'm sure you are at your limit." Kin said sadistically. Sakura didn't flinch, she held her ground.

"Alright so if you want food, you'll have to tell me what I need to know." Kin said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Sakura glared at her, not willing to say anything.

"Not going to talk eh?" Zaku added, cracking his knuckles, in an attempt to scare her.

"Fine stay here and starve you brat!" Kin hollered and slammed the door shut.

Sakura sighed in relief when they had left, she remained huddled in a corner of the room, not sure how much longer she would hold out. She was hungry, and added to that, she felt doleful, her heart felt heavy at the thought that she may never get to see her friends again. She knew her decision would lead to her inevitable entrapment, but she also knew that she would just have to stick through it, just until she could form a plan…She needed time, time to stall long enough for her to come up with her escape plan; she knew that her captors would not dispose of her as long as she held the information that was necessary, but the question was, for how long? For how long would they put up with her until they would finally decide to get rid of her (permanently)? She would just have to wait and see.

Sakura sat there for hours, hugging her knees to gather warmth. She tried to think, but her empty stomach and the engulfing cold were not helping at all. One of her captors made trips to see her every hour or so, trying to pry information out of her only to leave when she held on to her stubborn streak. Sakura assumed it was nearing lunchtime; well she heard Zaku taunt that she wouldn't get any lunch if she didn't speak up, so Sakura was sure it was lunchtime. A few minutes later sakura found herself yet again in the presence of her captors, but something was off…yes, their patience was wearing thin…

"I'm going to ask you once more, nicely." Sakura scoffed at Kin's words, "WHAT IS THE PASSWORD?" When Sakura refused to speak, Kin's anger flared, "Fine! Zaku, do a number on her!"

"With pleasure." Zaku sneered walking menacingly slowly over to Sakura, who was stricken with fear. Zaku grabbed her hair, yanking her up brutally, and gave her a hard blow in her stomach area. Sakura gasped in pain, spitting blood at Zaku's face, although by accident, which caused Zaku to grow even more enraged.

"You little" he swore at her, giving her a hard punch once again. Sakura trembled from the pain, too weak to do anything.

"That's enough Zaku!" Kin ordered, while Zaku pushed her away, causing her to fall mercilessly to the floor. Kin grabbed a lock full of Sakura's hair in her palm, pulling her up, causing her to wince in pain. "Now will you tell me what I want to know or not?" Kin asked, her voice threatening.

Just then the door flew open, crashing into the wall, as if it would break. At the door, stood a very angry looking Sasuke.

"Sakura…who did this to you?" Sasuke asked, his voice menacing, a glare placed firmly on his face.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered out incredulously.

"Who was it? Which of these losers beat you in that state?" Sasuke asked once again, the anger in his voice fully audible.

"Hoho! A tough guy huh?" Zaku laughed in contempt, "Tell you what, brat. I did it. What are you going to do about it?" Zaku countered. A sneer made its way to Sasuke's face, and in a matter of seconds, Sasuke was standing behind Zaku, his arm flung to hit Zaku on his neck. Zaku yelled out in pain, turning, only to be met with a fist in his face. That was enough to make Zaku fall to the floor, unconscious. Sasuke's eyes shifted darkly towards Kin, who was trembling in fear at the mere speed she had witnessed._ Who…what is this kid? He's not normal._ Kin trembled in fear, releasing her hold on Sakura's hair. While Sakura's hair cascaded down her back, Sasuke had already knocked out Kin, using his incredible speed.

Once the two idiots were out of the way, Sasuke shifted his furious gaze to Sakura, who was still sitting on the floor, on all fours, gaping at him in shock. Sasuke could see the nearly dried blood trailing down her mouth. The sight of Sakura so beaten up made him angrier still.

"Sakura..." he started furiously, only to be cut short when he felt two arms wrap themselves around his torso. He felt the girl tremble and sob into his chest, his anger flowed out, and he reluctantly found himself putting his arms loosely around her waist.

"Sasuke-kun I'm so glad you're alright." Sakura spoke in between sobs.

"What do you mean I'm alright?" Sasuke pulled away, a little harshly, "Sakura, you knew she wasn't your Aunt and yet you willingly went with her! What is wrong with you?" he berated her.

Sakura just looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "Sasuke-kun, I can explain." She offered meekly.

"Explain later, right now we have to get the police. I'll call them, you pack your stuff.." Sasuke said as he took out his cell phone, leaving Sakura to gather her stuff. Sasuke left the two unconscious bodies on the floor, locking the door while waiting for the police. Sasuke and Sakura sat in the kitchen of the apartment, and Sakura decided to finally eat. While eating Sakura could feel Sasuke's eyes on her, making her fidget uncomfortably.

"Care to explain." Sasuke made it sound more like a demand. Sakura looked away nervously.

"Sasuke-kun, these people…they're crooks. They were after my father's money, and so they brought me here."

"Really, because I've heard you willingly left." Sasuke pointed out, his tone implying that he was somewhat angered at the thought.

"I had to. If I hadn't, this woman would have done something, something to get rid of you. She…Sasuke-kun do you remember when I told you that my parents died in an accident?" she asked, seemingly disturbed even when thinking about it, "Well…she was behind it." Sakura said, her gaze shifting to the floor, "I saw her outside my house a few hours before it happened, at the time it seemed normal, like she was on her way somewhere and coincidently passed by. However, later, I realized she had been there for a purpose; she had been prowling around my father's car, and somehow she had known that my parents had to go somewhere later. She has been after my father's money for some time now, her and her damn accomplice!" sakura looked back at Sasuke, her eyes filled with frantic worry, "If I hadn't come, she would have done something like that to your family too! I couldn't let her do so." Sakura was on the verge of tears, clutching her shirt at the place where her heart was located. Sasuke's eyes softened when he heard her.

"Sakura, you don't have to worry about us. We can handle ourselves…" Sasuke told her gently, "But thank you."

* * *

After a while Sakura found herself back in her room, in the Uchiha household. She smiled. It had been a hectic day that was for sure, and it felt so great to be back…home? Yes sakura had considered this place her home, these people her family, and she realized that she would truly do anything to protect them. _Even if they insist they can handle themselves on their own._ Sakura thought back to how the Uchihas had reacted when they found out what had happened. They had been angry at her foolishness and self sacrificing, but despite that, they were grateful to her, glad that she was safe. Furthermore, they accepted her back with open arms…maybe they too accepted her as family…that thought in its self was enough to bring a smile to Sakura's face.

* * *

When Sakura went back to school on Monday, she was instantly barraged with questions about her absence. Obviously her friends really wanted to know what would cause SAKURA of all people to take the day off. Sakura decided that it was time she told her friends the truth…after all she couldn't see any other way out of this…

When Sakura was done telling them the tale of all that had happened since her uncle's death, carefully excluding the part about the Uchiha curse, she saw shock across her girl-friends' faces.

"Forehead I'm glad you're alright!" Ino was the first to break the shocked silence.

"Sakura-chan, we're sorry about your parents and uncle, we had no idea about the latter…" Hinata said, sympathetically.

"No, I should've told you a long time ago…but I didn't want you to feel bad…" Sakura finished weakly.

"Sakura, we did know about your parents…" Tenten told her quietly, earning a shocked look from Sakura.

"What?"

"Yeah, I heard a sensei talking about it, but I, er, we decided that it would be best to allow you some time before you told us yourself." Ino said, and then a playful smile came across her face, "But it sure took you a while! About 5 years Sakura!"

Sakura smiled, and hugged her friends. She finally understood that all those times when they'd ask her a question and she wouldn't reply, why they didn't pester her. They wanted her to come to terms with herself on her own pace, instead of forcing her into it. She felt so…yep the tears finally escaped.

"Oi Forehead, before you start crying even more, I have something to tell you." Ino said in a mischievous, sing-song voice. Hinata and Tenten shared a knowing look, grinning. "You remember Friday when you were absent…well you should have seen Sasuke moping about. He seemed so lost, and Karin didn't seem to help at all! She sat with him too, saying she 'forgot' her glasses, and all day she tried to ask him out." Ino spoke excitedly.

"He said no right?" Sakura asked almost frantically.

"No? Heh! He barely even listened to her! All day he seemed to miss you!" Tenten chimed in, but before they could continue, the bell rang and they reluctantly walked back to their seats.

Sakura felt light-headed,_ Sasuke-kun paid no attention to Karin…and he was moping over me?_ A blush found its way to her face, as she sat down next to Sasuke, smiling to herself the whole day.


	8. Chapter 8

**An:-**

**Okay my dear readers here is another chapter of my story. Sorry, for the long wait ( if it was all that long...). Anyway, i think i'll be finishing this soon. oh and i'm sorry if some of the description is not that good, i couldn't do any better ^-^'**

**Any confusions? feel free to ask me. Also Thank you all so much1 I really appreciate you taking the time to R&R. You guys are great!**

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was fearless, that was one thing about him that nobody could deny. Everyone was aware of the way he'd mouth of to the teachers without the slightest bit of hesitation. He'd give his all in any fights that broke out, and wouldn't even yelp in pain during the battle, however the fact that he'd always complain about the agony later was another thing… Other than that, he'd even had the guts to argue with the principal! Yep, Naruto was fearless…that or just plain stupid. However, there was one thing Naruto feared; the dreaded EXAMS!

Naruto had never been the studious type to begin with, heck; he never even paid attention in class! Of course Naruto always figured that if Shikamaru could sleep through class, and still get an A, he could do it too right? Wrong! Naruto knew that Shikamaru was a genius, a lazy boy who was lucky enough to have an IQ over 200; but Naruto was another story… he wasn't a genius of any sort. He was just a loud-mouthed kid with a lack of patience. That, was the real reason he was so fearless; he'd often say or do things before even realizing that he'd done them, so he never really had the time to consider the consequences. But that's why exams were such a problem, you HAVE to think before you do anything, and was something Naruto was not good at…. Thus, throughout the mid-year December exams, Naruto had been a nervous-wreck before, during and, surprisingly, NOT after the papers…?

"Alright! That was a piece of cake!" Naruto hollered ecstatically. The last paper finally ended, and all throughout the exams, Naruto's behavior was out of character. Usually, Naruto would be screaming about how hard the paper was, and then complain that Sasuke hadn't explained him things properly…however, this year, he'd come out of the classroom exclaiming that the paper was a piece of cake!

_What the hell was wrong with him! He's Naruto he's supposed to say 'Oi! Teme! That was so hard! How come you didn't tell me this stuff the night before!' _Sasuke thought to himself, taken aback by his best friend's behavior. _Come to think of it, Naruto didn't pester me this year to help him study…_Sasuke's face faulted in disbelief, _don't tell me he did it all himself! The dobe? No, he couldn't have, he's a dobe after all…_

"Oi, Sasuke! What's with that perplexed look?" Naruto's face broke into a mischievous grin, "Don't tell me YOU messed up in the paper. Oh well Sasuke, not everyone can be as great as ME!" Naruto gloated away; unaware of the fact that Sasuke was rolling his eyes. Heck, everyone around them was!

"'Perplexed'? Since when did you learn that word?" Sasuke fought the urge to laugh, but ended up snorting anyway.

"What! You Teme! I do know words; you're not the only one with a fancy vocabulary!" Naruto yelled, in mock hurt.

"Oh yeah, well then what does it mean?" Sasuke challenged, as the two of them made their way to the gates. Naruto turned away, seemingly flustered by the question. Sasuke smirked in satisfaction, "Just as I thought, you're still an idiot." Just then Naruto's head perked up,

"No way Teme! I know what it means! It means 'to be filled with confusion and bewilderment.' Ha!" Naruto stood arrogantly. Sasuke's mouth just hung open, in complete shock. _No way… that's correct!_

"Hehehe, I am now officially smarter than you!" Naruto exclaimed arrogantly.

"H-how did you..? Anyway, don't tell me you've been applying the old study- at –the- last- minute- and- finish- at- the- last- possible –second

* * *

technique during the exams." Sasuke asked, ridding himself of his previous stupor.

"No, well, I … Hinata-chan has been tutoring me ever since that day you so _nicely_ refused to help me!" Naruto yelled accusingly. "And to tell you the truth, teme, she's a much better teacher than you; I mean at least I get what she's saying, unlike when you teach me." Sasuke just turned his head away, his pride taking a hit, to think Hinata could be better than him at teaching the idiot!

"I think I'm going to go thank Hinata, maybe I should take her out to ramen …" Naruto asked himself while they walked out of the school onto the streets. "Oh! By the way, now that the exams are over, does this mean that the winter break is starting?"

"Yeah, the next two weeks are part of the winter break. But don't forget, we have a final game in about two days." Sasuke replied.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Hey! Isn't our game against Suna? I've heard their team has really dangerous players…The Sand siblings or something…" Naruto said, thoughtfully for once. "Gaara. That's what the guy's name is! They say he has the ultimate defense! Well anyway, I have to go. Don't forget about the game!" Naruto hollered while he ran off.

_As if, you're the only one foolish enough to forget...Hmm, a match against THE Gaara huh? _Sasuke smirked, _we'll see about that ultimate defense of his._

Sakura was waiting at the cashier counter, idly tapping her fingers on the counter. It had been a slow day of work, not many people came by that day, and she was craving for any sort of entertainment. However, that didn't seem to be happening any time soon, Sakura rolled her eyes. She looked at the clock, sighing in the process. _Almost five thirty. I wonder if Sasuke-kun's game has started._ Sakura sighed again. She wasn't to big a fan of soccer, in fact she didn't know all that much anyway, but she had always wanted to see at least one match that her school played. Sakura had always been told of the 'great moves' the players on their team did, and how Sasuke was always so amazing when he played and blah blah blah…so it had become somewhat of a dream of hers to get to see a match. However, much to her dismay, the school always insisted on having the matches DURING her working hours! Thus, the stupid dream of hers would never come true!

"Hey, it's pretty empty today huh?" Sakura turned towards the voice, only to be met with two onyx eyes.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be at the game? Sasuke-kun." Sakura asked, surprised, but glad that to have some amount of entertainment.

"Yeah, it starts in about half an hour." Sasuke replied calmly.

"Then what are you doing here? You should go now or you'll be late!" Sakura exclaimed, well aware of the fact that the grounds were quite a distance from the book store.

"Aa. I know. I'm here to get you." Sasuke answered, a small smirk forming on his face when he saw Sakura's surprised look. "Come on."

"What are you talking about? I have to work." Sakura replied, immediately regretting her statement.

"Yeah, the place is empty." Sasuke replied pointedly. "Come on, we don't have much time."

"Sakura isn't going anywhere boy." A man who was probably a year or two older than Sasuke said, appearing behind Sakura. "This place is about o get busy, and I'll need her to work."

"Look…"Sasuke read the name on his nametag, "Shin, as busy as the place is right now," Sasuke spoke, sarcasm laced in his voice, "Sakura needs to come with me; my parents are waiting for me outside."

"Your parents are here?" Sakura asked instantly, "We can't keep them waiting! You should have told me before!" Sakura removed her name tag and jumped over the counter, in a graceful move that one could only expect from an Uchiha. "Sorry Shin-san, but I have to go." The two of them walked out in hurried steps, with Shin hollering something about 'docking her pay'. Once outside the doors, they were met with an empty parking lot, well except for a motor-cycle and Shin's own car.

Sakura sweat-dropped, "You were lying about your parents weren't you Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Aa." Sasuke replied, tossing her a helmet, while putting on his own. Then he turned to face Sakura, a smirk on his face, "I decided that you should at least have the honor of watching me play, this being the last game I'll ever play and all."

Sakura smirked at his arrogant demeanor, "Well then, I shouldn't question your _kindness_." Sakura said as she sat down behind Sasuke, gripping his jacket instantly. She had a fear of motor cycles, seeing as how fast they go, but somehow, she felt safe around Sasuke; something she only felt around him and his family.

"Oh, Sakura-chan is here today too." Hinata said as Sakura made her way to the stands.

"Hi!" Sakura waved at her friends, who moved over so she could get a seat.

"Forehead, what brings you here, I thought you had work to do." Ino asked casually.

"Sasuke-kun brought me here instead; it was a slow day at work so I decided to come along."

"EH! Sasuke-kun did!" Ino exclaimed excitedly, "You know what this means don't you?" Ino exclaimed clasping her hands together.

"…no…" Sakura answered simply, her eyes focused on the grounds. Somebody slapped her arm, causing her to turn her attention towards Ino. "Ouch Ino, what was that for?" she was met by Ino's angry glare.

"Baka! Don't you know what this means? It means Sasuke-kun wants you to see him play!" Ino said.

Sakura sweat-dropped, _that's the point of a game anyway,_ "So?"

Ino pulled at her hair in exasperation, opening her mouth to say something, but was stopped by Tenten, who shushed her because the game was starting.

The teams spread out across the field, at what Sakura assumed, were their assigned positions. She could see Sasuke from where she sat, and she could clearly see that he was searching the crowd for something. Once he spotted what he was looking for, he smirked, turning to the field instantly. Sakura smiled unconsciously; she could have sworn that, just before turning away, Sasuke had smiled at her…perhaps he was glad that she was there?

Adrenaline pulsed through his veins; the sound of the whistle gave him a rush that he had never felt before in any game. His excitement had two reasons; for one, Sakura was at the game, a close friend of his and his father attended his game for the first time. The second reason, he would get to show off his skills and defeat Gaara, one of the most dangerous players ever; all in the presence of his father…

Sakura had never really been a fan of soccer, and half the times she would wonder why her friends attended these games; but after witnessing the game for herself, her confusion faded away and she could tell. It was Sasuke. That was the reason why everyone turned up…well, him and a few other people…but mostly him. Sasuke's speed on the field was almost inhuman! The way he could steal the ball in the blink of an eye, and even score easily. Then there was Naruto. He was great at defending, and he was great at scoring. The two of them made a deadly combination on the field. However, the problem was that Suna was just as deadly; the Sand Siblings Gaara and Kankuro were like Suna's version of Naruto and Sasuke!

With about three minutes left, with both teams tied with 2, the crowd grew silent in anticipation. It seemed as if the whole crowd would hold their breath every time it would seem like someone was about to score, in order to break the tie, but they'd let out a disappointed sigh every time a player failed to score.

"Alright Sasuke-kun's got the ball!" Ino screamed. Sakura held her breath, her heart beat increasing rapidly, her mind screaming _COME ON SASUKE-KUN DO IT!_ Every passing second seemed to slow down drastically as Sasuke neared the goal, ready to kick.

Sakura shot up from her seat the minute it happened, her eyes widening in worry. The crowd simultaneously gave an "Ohhhhh!" emphasizing the pain of the situation. For on the field, Sasuke was doubled over in pain, gripping his ankle. The game halted for a few minutes as a few men rushed out to check on him. It had all happened so fast; one second Sasuke was about to kick the bloody ball, and the next, he was tackled (at least that's what Sakura would call it) by Gaara, who at that point was receiving his first yellow card. The next second, Sasuke was toppling to the ground, rolling over a couple of times. At that instant he was surrounded by his team mates, who were voicing their concerns.

"Sasuke-chan!" Sakura heard a familiar voice cry out, and when she turned around, she saw Mikoto-sama standing at her seat a few rows back, with the same worry filled eyes that Sakura herself was wearing. Itachi-san, himself was concerned, but remained calm and stopped his mother from running off to the ground. Fugaku-sama seemed unfazed however, although that's what it would look like at a single glance. Upon closer inspection, one could see that his shoulders were tensed in, well, tension.

Sakura's eyes drifted back to the grounds, her heart was beating too fast to bear. Her eyes widened when she noticed Sasuke getting up, and although he was obviously in pain, he refused to back away. She noticed his eyes lingered over to her for a few seconds and then he got back in the game.

_What the hell is he thinking! He's hurt he can't play!_ Sakura thought angrily. She wasn't concentrating during the remaining two minutes, her inner self screaming at Sasuke. Thus, it was no surprise when she was startled when the crowd started cheering. Sakura looked at the scoreboard when the horn sounded. Konoha won by one score and the crowd was going wild. Naruto and Sasuke high-fived each other, while everyone else congratulated Naruto. Sakura assumed that he had made the final score.

The team was going nuts in the locker room; after all they had won their final game. After a whole lot of screaming on Naruto's part, the players left. Sasuke remained alone in the room, his ankle was throbbing incessantly and the pain was driving him nuts. There was a knock on the door and Sasuke grunted to let whoever it was enter.

"Sasuke-kun." Sasuke stared at the girl at the door.

"Sakura." Sasuke spoke, trying his best not to scream in pain.

"What the HELL were you thinking? Going ahead and playing even with the obvious pain you were in!" Sakura reprimanded him, hands on her hips. Sasuke made a move to stand, but a sharp pain shot through his ankle causing him to collapse to the floor. Sakura was instantly by his side, asking him if he alright and whatever stupid questions come to mind in these situations. That was it, Sasuke let out the scream he had been keeping in for a long time, as his ankle continued to throb. He searched around frantically for something to squeeze, in order to ease his pain. His hand found Sakura's, and he clasped it, squeezing it, trying to rid himself of the throbbing pain in his ankle. He could hear Sakura call out his name, her tone laced with worry. With one final cry, his world turned black, he slipped out of consciousness, his head limply hung over near Sakura's shoulder. Sakura's right hand was around his back in a comforting manner, while the other one was slipping out of Sasuke's grip. A few tears were present at the corners of her eyes. Sakura did the only thing she could do; she tried lifting him and carrying him out, supporting his weight. Once outside, she was helped by Itachi-san and Naruto. She followed silently, hoping that nothing worse would happen to him.

Sasuke's eyes opened slowly, only to be met with the sight of a white ceiling, and a fluorescent light staring down at him menacingly. The distinct scent of anti septic met his nostrils; he was in a hospital. Groggily he sat up in his bed. In the next second he felt something curl around his neck, and the sound of sobbing met his ears. Once his senses kicked in, he figured out that it was sakura who was hugging him, and crying. She let go in the next instant, and though he wouldn't admit it, Sasuke was a little disappointed when she let go.

"Baka!" Sakura reprimanded, obviously furious, "You had me worried sick!" her tone turned to that of relief, "I'm glad you're okay though."

"…Sakura, what the hell happened?" Sasuke asked.

"You! You idiot, on kept running off after the ball even though your ankle was in pain! Then you made your condition even worse and fainted. You had me worried sick!" Sakura screamed angrily at him. "Why would you do that?"

Just then Mikoto entered the room, an elated smile appeared on her lips as she ran over to her, now conscious, son's side, hugging him the exact same way Sakura had.

"You had me worried sick!" she reprimanded, "I'm glad you're okay though."

Wait didn't he just hear this lecture a few seconds ago?

Sasuke stayed at the hospital for five days. Five long and agonizingly annoying days. He was an early riser, and once he was awake he was forced to stay on the bed, due to the hairline fracture that had so kindly graced him with its presence. He waited, and waited but nothing interesting ever happened, and despite being fond of solitude, he was grateful when visiting hours began. His family, including sakura, visited him daily. One of the days Naruto even showed up, with the rest of his friends. That day, Naruto was thrown out of the hospital for being too loud. Sakura would constantly be there, unless she had work or something, and Sasuke was grateful for her annoying presence.

Sasuke was glad that he was finally being discharged from the hospital, this being his final day. He'd already wasted five days of his winter break being stuck at the hospital, and he really needed to get out of that suffocating place!

And then there was the hospital food, just plain terrible. Sasuke was just glad that Sakura had the generosity enough to sneak in some normal food every time she visited. She knew his favorite food well, and she'd always bring in some tomato onigiri. He remembered the day Naruto and a few other people had come to visit him. They, well Naruto actually, barged in without even knocking, and found Sakura sitting at Sasuke's bedside chair, offering him the onigiri that she had snuck in. However, Naruto, with his oh so creative mind, thought that sakura was feeding Sasuke and accused sakura of being his girlfriend. Then he yapped about how Sasuke never told him anything and started asking stupid questions about how far they had gotten in their 'relationship'. Sasuke ignored his friend's bantering, but Sakura just grew red, and punched Naruto while swiftly leaving the room. A smirk made its way to his face, when he recalled the memory; it was funny when the nurses came in and kicked Naruto out personally for being too loud. Speaking of the nurses, they were highly irritating too! Every time one would come to check-up on him, they'd make it a point to giggle and subtly flirt with him. That was another place where Sakura came in handy; when she was around, the nurses would act humane.

Sakura. Sasuke had been thinking too much about her lately; about how she was always there. She was the first one he saw when he woke up from his unconscious state, and she was the last person he saw before he had slipped into that said unconscious state. That was Sakura for you; always there, always worrying. Sasuke was so used her presence by now that he couldn't imagine his house ever being devoid of her; as if she had always belonged.

The door knocked, and Sasuke responded wit ha quiet, "Come in."

"Sasuke-kun," _think of the devil_ Sasuke mused. "How are you doing today?'"

"Fine." came his response.

"You don't seem 'fine'." Sakura replied, a hint of sourness laced in her voice, 'Well I bet you're hungry! Guess what I brought you today." Sakura smirked evilly. Sasuke cocked his eyebrow at her. "Natto!" She said with the same mischievous glint in her eye. Sasuke gave a disgusted look, he hates natto! All that stuff he'd been saying about sakura knowing him and all, well, he decided he'd disregard that. His thoughts were interrupted when Sakura's laughter met his ears.

"Ha! You should've seen your face!" she said between her chortles of laughter, "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, I know you hate that, so I brought you onigiri…again." She sweat-dropped. Sasuke smirked; well he just disregarded the fact that he was previously disregarding what he was previously thinking. "Well, I'm glad you'll be coming home today, finally they're discharging you from here." She smiled. "You should know that Naruto's been calling constantly, asking if you were home, seeing as how he was banned from here last time." She rolled her eyes, "I think he'll be visiting you at home, but don't worry, your mom picked up the phone each time, so Naruto doesn't have any clue that I live there too. So he won't be asking any stupid questions."

"Sakura." Sasuke stated simply.

"Yes?"

"Stop rambling and let me eat." _So annoying…and yet, I wouldn't have it any other way._


	9. Chapter 9

**Another chapter up. Yay! Well anyway, i liked writng this one and i hope you guys like it too. Also, i'd like you guys to review, even if all you can say is one word, because i'd really appreciate it! Thus, i'd like to give a HUGE thank you to all my readers and especially all my REVIEWERS, cuz you guys are awesome and the only reason i'm writing this.**

* * *

It had been a few days since Sasuke returned from the hospital, and true to Sakura's word, Naruto had been calling up constantly, and he kept complaining about how he had nothing to do. So, in order to placate Naruto's hyperactive nerves, Sasuke told him to come over that day to watch a movie. However, Naruto had to go ahead and invite more people! So Sasuke had to 'entertain' Naruto, Kiba, Lee and Shino. Joy…

Well, Shino was quiet enough for Sasuke's liking, but it was the other three he was worried about; Kiba Naruto and Lee, on the other hand were THE most hyperactive people he had ever met! He was just glad that Sakura was going out with her friends to watch a movie; otherwise he'd be hearing non-stop nonsense from the three idiots about Sakura being his girlfriend or something…that was something he could not bear.

"I'm home."

Sakura entered the family living room, where Sasuke too was sitting. She had taken an earlier shift at work because, being the winter break and all, she wanted to be done with work early so that she'd have more free time later. She plopped down on a sofa, opposite Sasuke, and sighed in annoyance, completely missing the confused look Sasuke had been wearing.

"Isn't anyone at home?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, almost accusingly.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, a confused frown on her lips, was she not wanted there or something?

"I mean, weren't you supposed to go to the movies after work? Why are you home?" Sasuke asked, and some how Sakura sensed the urgency in his voice.

"Oh that!" sakura sighed in exasperation, "Hn! Well, my friends cancelled on me at the last minute! Ino said something about meeting Shikamaru, and Tenten said something about meeting Neji-san. Then Hinata and I decided that we wouldn't have any fun on our own so we cancelled." Sakura pouted, "Really! I haven't done anything fun all break and they go ahead and cancel! But anyway, is Mikoto-sama home?"

"Yeah, she's in her room watching her TV shows." Sasuke answered, "Sakura why don't you go to your room and stay there for a few hours."

"Why? Is someone coming?" Sakura asked, getting up.

Sasuke sighed in annoyance, "Naruto." He said, and Sakura gave him a knowing look and was about to walk off, when the doorbell rang. "Damn! The dobe has the worse timing ever!" The door bell kept ringing and ringing and ringing! Before Sasuke could answer, his mother stalked out of her room, some what angrily, and jerked open the door. Glaring at Naruto, who was apologizing feebly, she let him and the other three in. She then gave Sasuke an annoyed look, one that screamed "You know better than to annoy me while I'm watching my soap operas!". Sasuke just gulped as he saw her stalk off to her room once more.

Once she was out of ear shot, Naruto finally had the nerve to speak, "Man, she is scary when she's angry! Teme, why didn't you just answer the door when I rang the doorbell?"

"You idiot! Why can't you just ring the doorbell once like a normal person?" Sasuke reprimanded the blonde idiot.

"Yeah Naruto!" Kiba added.

"What! You jerk; you were ringing the bell with me!"

"Let us not waste our youth with this un-youthful bickering." Lee added enthusiastically.

Kiba sweat –dropped. "Well anyway, Sasuke, what's with this smell of perfume lingering around?" Sasuke cursed Kiba's great sense of smell, and looked around the room, frantically searching for any pink. When he didn't see a single trace of her, he sighed in relief. _Good, she hid herself in all the confusion._

"I believe the smell of perfume is due to Sakura." All eyes turned to Shino, Sasuke trying his best not to knock Shino unconscious.

"Are you stupid or something?" Naruto asked rhetorically, "Seriously, there are no flowers in here."

"I was not referring to the flower Sakura, but rather the _person_ Sakura." Shino replied pointedly, inwardly questioning Naruto's intelligence. "Why do I think that, you ask? Because I saw her make her way upstairs. When, you ask? While you both were busy arguing." Shino spoke monotone.

Naruto, Kiba and Lee stared at Shino like he was an idiot. "Dude, you should probably get rid of your sun glasses; I mean there is no way Sasuke-teme here would call over Sakura."

"Yeah, you must be going insane." Kiba added cockily.

"Perhaps your eyes are losing their youthfulness due to your sun glasses." Lee added.

"Yeah, what kind of idiot wears glasses indoors, much less at night!" Naruto exclaimed and burst out laughing.

Sasuke released the breath he was unconsciously holding in, relieved. _Alright, they think he's going insane. That's a good sign._

"But you know Shino has never been wrong before." Kiba said after a while, causing Naruto to stop laughing instantly.

"Yes, and did we not see sakura-san and Sasuke-kun at the hospital together?" Lee asked casually.

Sasuke was becoming frantic on the inside, _what the hell? Weren't they just agreeing that Shino was stupid a second ago? Damn!_

Naruto gasped dramatically, "Sasuke, don't tell me! You two are together and you didn't even tell me! Me; your best friend!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke had had enough by now; he just hit Naruto to shut him up. "Dobe, are we watching a movie today or not?" Sasuke said, trying to hide the urgency in his voice. However, this attempt did not go unnoticed by the ever-observant Shino.

"Sasuke, you sound worried. How do I know, you ask? Because I can sense it in your voice." Shino said simply.

"That means it's true! She is here isn't she?" Kiba exclaimed, obviously enjoying Sasuke's misery.

"Let us go find her then. Oh Sakura-san!" Lee hollered, with the same sadistic epiphany.

"WIL YOU BOYS PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE!" Mikoto yelled from her room, her anger obvious in her tone. That shut the boys up, and they were left to cover in fear.

"Now, will you please just watch the movie and get it over with." Sasuke asked, glad that this mess was over with. Sasuke said and led the way up the stairs. The rest of the boys followed, silently this time.

"Hey, the scent of perfume is stronger here." Kiba said when they had arrived in the sitting room. Sasuke ignored him and continued walking further up the stairs. However when he turned around, he saw that his friends were not following him, but instead were crowding around the guest room, Sakura's room…

"You know, I still think teme's hiding something, go on Kiba open the door and let's see." Naruto whispered, which in his world is normal noise level, thus Sasuke heard everything clearly.

Sasuke appeared immediately , beside the four of them, his arms crossed against his chest, a vein popping in his forehead out of irritation.

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?" Sasuke asked, low and threateningly pronouncing each word. The four of them just shuddered, and moved away.

"Come on Sasuke!" Naruto whined, "Just tell me what you're hiding! I can't take this anymore!"

Sasuke was sick and tired of this already; he knew hiding things any further would only make them more suspicious, meaning more nonsense spewing out of their mouths. He sighed, thinking things through once more before finally answering,

"Fine, you want to know what's going on. I'll tell you. I did invite Sakura over, because she had nothing better to do. I know that because I met her on the streets, while she was coming home from work so she came here. When you guys arrived she went over to the bathroom, so we'll just go watch the movie when she comes outside." Sasuke said, loud enough so Sakura could hear from behind the door.

"Geez you idiot, if that was it, you could've just said so from the beginning!" Naruto hollered, and then a sneaky smirk made its way on his face, "You could have just said you were falling for her long ago!"

Sasuke scoffed "You are so annoying."

The door knob turned, and the five of them cleared the area to give Sakura room enough to leave the room. She smiled, saying hello to each of them. Naruto then took Sasuke away from the crowd, and whispered uncertainly to him.

"Hey teme, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean what if she can't handle the movie?" Naruto whispered, causing Sasuke to look at him confused.

"What do you mean dobe? Don't tell me you brought some perverted movie like last time!" Sasuke said, in a low voice so only Naruto could hear.

"No! I didn't! I brought a scary movie this time; thought it would be fun to final get a scream out of Shino."

"Dobe." Sasuke said and walked away.

"Heh! So Sakura-chan, do think you can handle watching this?" Naruto said as he shoved the cover in her face.

Sakura studied the title, a frown on her face; she did not like scary movies, but she had no choice but to watch. After all, she couldn't just leave because she had no where she could go; her own friends being busy in their own lives and all. So Sakura just nodded mutely. Kiba snickered, "Your expression doesn't look like you can."

"I can watch it!" sakura pouted and said in a whiny voice, her hands crossing over her chest, as if to further prove her point.

"Whatever, let's just go." Sasuke said, bored.

"Do not worry Sakura-san, if you are scared I can always protect you!" Lee said, giving her a thumbs up.

Sasuke stiffened when he heard Lee say that to sakura; it was annoying.

"Uh thanks, Lee-san." Sakura smiled at him, causing Sasuke to stiffen even more. What the hell was that irritating feeling lodging itself in his stomach?

* * *

Sasuke was more amused by this movie than anything else. The reason? Well, he had lost all interest in the movie; he wasn't all that into horror films to begin with. He had had a highly annoying experience with Naruto the first time they had seen a horror film, and that left a lasting impression. Sasuke was the type of person who'd watch a film, and enjoy the thrills and chills _while_ the movie was running, and then he'd get over the movie and move on once it was finished. Naruto on the other hand, was the kind to dwell over something for hours, maybe even days. Thus, the first time they'd watched a scary movie, Naruto had been scared for a long time after it, and would refuse to go anywhere alone. Thus, Sasuke was dragged around everywhere imaginable, and that got annoying…very, very annoying. That experience ultimately led to his distaste for scary movies. Speaking of the blonde, he at the moment was so involved in the movie that his eyes would practically pop out in fear! Kiba too was suffering much the same fate. Shino on the other hand was sitting quietly, not even flinching in fear. _Heh and Naruto wanted to get a scream out of him…he's the one who's been screaming his head off the whole time._ Sasuke thought to himself dryly. Sasuke's eyes drifted over to Rock Lee, and Sasuke's amused smirk grew tenfold; Lee was hugging his knees, rocking back and forth, whispering something to himself. Occasionally, there'd be a scream out of him, and Kiba and Naruto, and then they'd keep their eyes glued to the screen. _And those idiots were worried about Sakura. Che! They can't even handle it themselves. Speaking of Sakura…_ Sasuke shifted his gaze towards the pink haired girl sitting next to him; he hadn't heard so much as a peep out of her, and had almost forgotten that she was there at all!

But closely observing her Sasuke noticed that she was stiff, occasionally giving out a few gasps, then sometimes she would shiver. Yep, she was definitely scared, but at least she was doing a better job of hiding than Naruto and the rest.

Sakura hated horror movies, she had always hated them. The film had this strange desire to pop up in her mind whenever she was sitting alone, or when she had nothing to do, and then she'd be plagued by the fear, thinking something was lurking at every corner… When, she first saw Sasuke's movie room, she was surprised to say the least; I mean it was like a movie theatre at home! There was a snack corner in the room, and a huge screen and a great sound system. That was what made sakura worry, a great sound system meant that every scream, every bit of creepy music would reach their ears perfectly, as if it was all happening right there, and that in itself was an unnerving thought. It was a wonder how she managed to refrain from screaming, Sakura thought in the midst of one of her gasps. No, she knew why she had managed to keep in all her screams, and it wasn't just the fact that her pride wouldn't let her; it was Sasuke. She felt that as long as he was there nothing could happen to her, she felt protected. Sakura's eyes drifted towards the boy sitting next to her; his amused smirk only made her feel better. He hadn't screamed or gasped, or done anything during the movie, unlike _someone _Sakura turned her gaze to the place where Naruto had been sitting. He wasn't there. Sakura searched around the room, her eyes darting to every corner, and she noticed Kiba was missing too. _Could the Thing have gotten them! No, no, there's no such thing as that thing._ Sakura tried reassuring herself. She heard something shuffling, but she was too scared to turn around. Shino and Sasuke, who were sitting on either side of her, didn't seem to notice at all. Heck, she wasn't even sure if Shino was alive any more, seeing as how he hadn't moved a centimeter since the dreaded movie began! But anyway, it was the creepy shuffling behind her that was getting to her.

The character in the movie let out a blood curdling scream, causing Sakura to be even more terrified. A hand shot up from behind the couch, as white as a ghost, gripping her shoulder. Slowly, she turned around, facing a bloodied, disfigured face. That was it, her resolve was broken, she let out a high pitched screech of her own. The scream scared Shino and he let out a low yelp. Lee was already covering behind his sofa. Sasuke's eyes darted to her when she screamed, and soon enough he found sakura clinging to him and whimpering, on the verge of tears from the terror that was engulfing her. They heard laughter from behind the sofa, and Shino observed that it was Naruto and Kiba, holing on to a mask, and a white colored limb that looked like an arm.

"You should have heard yourself!" Naruto yelled through one of his chortles of laughter, which were directed more at shino than Sakura.

"Yeah!" Kiba burst out laughing.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and turned his attention to the girl in his arms, he placed an arm on her back, in what he _hoped_ was a comforting manner. He noticed the girl stopped whimpering, and instead became very, very still.

"Sorry Sakura-chan but in order to scare Shino we had to do it. Your sacrifice was not in vain." Naruto said, thinking he was helping the situation. Sakura turned her head towards the two pranksters, a glare fixed threateningly on her face. A mysterious dark aura was surrounding her, as she let go of Sasuke, and stood up slowly. She cracked her knuckles, which made a disturbing bone-cracking sound, her eyes had turned into mere slits, and somehow they were glistening red.

"Naruto…Kiba…" she said lowly. The two of them audibly gulped, stammering her name in worry, "That. Was. Not. Funny." She said, announcing every word slowly. She then punched the two of them, leaving two lumps on their heads; she then turned away in a huff. Shino and Sasuke actually let out a small laugh at the sight.

"Alright you idiots, let's just stop the movie here, seeing as none of you are in any state to watch." Sasuke said, smirking amusedly.

"R-right…" Naruto managed to choke out, avoiding eye contact with Sakura.

Soon afterwards, the boys left, after thoroughly apologizing to Sakura, and stating how much fun it was. Before leaving though, Naruto pulled Sasuke to the side,

"Sasuke isn't she going home? Don't tell me your letting her stay here, with you!" Naruto 'whispered'.

"No you dobe, I'll take her home soon."

Naruto snickered, "Oh! Our teme is all grown up!" Naruto said in mock pride, "Well see ya later!" and with that he walked off, but not before cautiously looking in every direction to check for any ghosts.

"It's getting late, mind if I walk you home?" Sasuke asked Sakura once he had closed the door behind him, a _smile _on his face.

"Please do," Sakura played along, as Sasuke led her to her room. This playful mood of his was very rare, and Sakura wanted to enjoy it as much as possible.

* * *

The clock struck one, and sakura just shifted around on her bed. As always, the stupid movie was coming again and again in her mind, making her unable to sleep. She refrained from looking towards the closet, afraid that something might be lurking there. To make matters worse it started to rain. That got Sakura even more frightened, _Gah! This is just like in the movie where it's raining and then the girl hears a creak. But that was just a movie, so calm down, calm own. _The sound of a creak met her ears, _What was that? No way, that couldn't have been a creak! No _no_. If it were like the movie lightening would strike and then there would be heavy foot falls…_ Strangely enough, lightening stuck, causing Sakura's eyes to widen at the uncanny-ness of the situation. Foot steps could be heard outside, slowly making their way closer and closer. Sakura pulled the sheets over her head. _Shit! I'm going to die! The Thing is coming! WAH! There's so much I didn't get to do. _Tears, more like a classic anime fountain of tears was poring out of her eyes at this point, as she clutched the sheets tighter over herself, like they were some kind of shield. Another creak made its way to her ears, and Sakura was sure that the door had been opened. From the material of her sheets, she could make out a silhouette, of a dark figure looming over closer and closer to her bed. She could picture it now; she'd be brutally slaughtered by a knife, and then there'd be news reports about a girl dying in her sleep, her body never being found… She clutched her bed sheet even tighter, trying to scream to alert someone, but her throat was dry. What the hell was she supposed to do?

"Sakura, don't scream."

All of her fear melted away at the sound of the voice, his voice, and her terror was replaced by slowly growing anger. Why the hell was he here trying to scare her like that? She sprang up from under her sheets, her anger dissipating when she saw his calm face. He wasn't trying to scare her like the others were, but he had some other purpose. But what? Sakura calmed down when he was there, her fears disappeared, and she suddenly felt sleepy, despite her previous insomniac state.

"Sasuke-kun why are you here?" She asked, but inwardly glad he came.

"I knew it." Sakura gave a confused look, "I knew, you were scared to death, and I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep. So I came here to make sure you were okay."

Sakura smiled, and then scooted over giving him space to sit, and fell into a sound sleep, glad that Sasuke was watching over her.

* * *

When Sasuke's eyes opened to a mop of pink hair, he was shocked for a moment. However, the shock was changed into realization when he remembered the previous night's events; he had planned to leave once he was sure that Sakura was asleep, but then, being it what around two in the morning and all, his eyes began to droop. Suddenly, the walk across the hall had seemed too much work, and the bed that he had been sitting on was just too warm, and inviting. So Sasuke ended up laying there.

Sasuke noticed he had his arm wound around Sakura's waist. What the HELL! When, or rather WHY, did he do that? Oh, right; Sakura had been whimpering in her sleep, Sasuke assumed from a nightmare and thus placed an arm around her for comfort, and surely enough her whimpering stopped and she fell into a peaceful sleep once more. Sasuke also noticed that Sakura was huddled a little too close to him, and that unnerved him a little. How was he supposed to leave without waking her up first? What if his mom saw them? What would she think? But then again, why would she barge in her room in the first place? While Sasuke was busy in all his thoughts, he felt Sakura shuffle, and slowly her eyes opened up. Sakura expression turned to that of shock; her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Sasuke clamped his hand on her mouth, preventing her from screaming, if she planning to, but then Sakura's expression changed to that of knowing. She smiled, and Sasuke could _feel _her smile, due to his hand on her mouth and all. Somehow, strangely, Sakura found herself place a small peck on the hand clamped over her mouth, causing Sasuke to pull it away in surprise.

"What was that for?" Sasuke whispered, his neck heating up a bit.

"For, staying with me. Thank you…" Sakura's face was turning pink too, as a consequence of her action.

Sasuke turned away abruptly, and mumbled a quiet, "We will never speak of this again." And flash stepped out of there, in a feeble yet effective attempt to hide the blush adorned on his face.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:-**

**alright another chapter up. Once again reviews will be highly appreciated and another BIG thank you to all those who have reviewed. Hope you didn't wait too long, i actually had a lot of trouble with this chapter. i got a case of writer's bloc (sp?) so i had to rewrite the openiong about three times until i finally agreed with this one! Hope you like it. ^-^**

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Karin giddily walked towards her classroom, a small, neat, well wrapped package in her hands. Today would be the day…yes, the day where Sasuke would accept Karin's little package as well as her feelings, and the two of them would be together. Then Karin would happily, more like gloatingly, tell the story of how Sasuke and her fell in love… It would be very nice to see the faces of the bitter, defeated fan girls crying their hearts out in misery.

Before opening the door to the class room, Karin checked her little package to see if it was still in perfect shape. Once her inspection was done, she opened the door, hoping to fly over to Sasuke's side and hand him her chocolate, but no, as expected, there was a horde of girls around him. Regardless, Karin still walked over to the crowd, and albeit she was standing at the back, she was still exuding confidence.

"Sasuke-kun please accept mine!"

"No! Accept mine."

Karin heard some of the girls in the crowd squeal excitedly. She rolled her eyes; there was no way he'd accept theirs, because he clearly was hers. Or at least that's what her assumption was. Karin looked at Sasuke, who sat there indifferently, the same calm and cool expression on his face. Looking at his attitude towards all these other girls gave her a bit more hope.

"Hn. I think I've said this before too, but I don't really like sweets." Sasuke gave a disgruntled reply, and diverted his attention away from the crowd of girls with their mouths hung open, and the dejected aura around them. Slowly they disappeared, and that left Karin all the more satisfied; she thought he was just saying that to get rid of all the girls he didn't want, and then he'd accept hers…that's the way it had played out in Karin's head.

Karin stood at his side for a while, but he seemed not to take notice of her. His face was elsewhere, towards the rest of the classroom. Karin noted that his eyes were darting around, as if following someone's movements. When Karin followed his line of sight, she saw what his eyes were following; in the classroom, the pink haired girl, Sakura, was briskly walking around, handing out some people chocolate. Karin reverted her eyes to Sasuke, who was still looking away. What was that feeling surrounding him? Irritation? Anger... Expectation? Karin couldn't put a finger on it, but she assumed she was close. She had this hopeless feeling lodging itself in her stomach. Sasuke did not even pay attention to her, he didn't even treat her right, heck he didn't even treat her at all. In fact, in his eyes, she was either nonexistent or very low in his eyes. So why in the HELL would she bother with him? Why should she treat him like some godlike being, when he made her feel like trash? There was no way Karin was letting some boy treat her like trash and live with it! No! She was through being treated like she didn't exist, she didn't deserve that, and she was through with Sasuke.

Karin clenched the box in her hands, emotions of disappointment and fury coursing through her; she was furious that she hadn't seen it sooner, and she was disappointed that her chocolate box just broke and all the chocolate that she could have eaten herself, just splattered into an ugly mess. With a huff, she cursed Sasuke under her breath and stalked off.

Sasuke, who had seen her leaving from the corner of his eyes, sighed in relief. His mind was still focused on Sakura, who was handing out chocolate to practically EVERYONE! Well, it wasn't everyone exactly, just her friends, but that in itself was about one third of the classroom. She had been doing that since she entered class; she came in smiling, and went to her girl-friends first, and then she gave them their respective packages. After exchanging some pleasantries, she went over to the next person, and the next person… She was finally with the last person, Naruto, who was giddily trying to grab the chocolate out of her hands, but before simply handing it to him, she crossed her arms over her chest making a sour face to match her action.

"I probably shouldn't be giving this to you, after the stunt you pulled at the movie." She said.

"Aww, Sakura-chan you're still on about that?" Naruto whined, "But you gave Kiba some!"

"Fine, you're just lucky I'm in a giving mood today." Sakura said playfully, and handed him the chocolate.

Sakura then looked around the room once, almost as if searching for someone, but she couldn't find what she was looking for, and then sighed. The bell rang at that point, and the sensei abruptly walked in. Sakura made her way to her seat, and much to Sasuke's displeasure, she smiled at Lee when he walked in late and apologized to the sensei.

* * *

During lunch break, Sakura made her way away from her group of friends, and Sasuke followed her in the shadows. He didn't know why but he felt obliged to follow her, especially since she had been ignoring him all day. Sakura stopped suddenly, and Sasuke climbed up a tree in order to stay hidden. He was lucky that there weren't many people around, seeing as how the majority of the people were lined up at the canteen on the other side of the school. Sasuke's curiosity was starting to get the best of him, he wanted to know what the hell was going on.

"Oh Lee-san!" his ears perked up when he heard the girl yell out the name.

"Sakura-san! What is it that you wanted me for?" Lee answered as he practically pranced over, in Sasuke's opinion.

"Happy Valentine's Day." Sakura told him and handed him his package. Lee's face turned red, and the smile on his face grew so big that Sasuke was sure his face would fall off. "Don't get the wrong idea though; I give chocolate to all my friends, as is the tradition." Sakura said, a bit defensively.

Lee grabbed a hold of Sakura's hands, and Sasuke felt like throwing a rock at him, "That does not concern me. It is the fact that you were thoughtful enough to give something to me!" Lee started crying a waterfall of tears in happiness, "I can't believe this! Wait till Gai-sansei hears this! Thank you Sakura-san." With that Lee ran off in a hurry.

Sasuke was mad after seeing all that. He was angry, and a little bit hurt, though he'd never say it. What made him mad was the fact that Sakura would actually give Lee chocolate; no, what hurt him was the fact that she would give Lee some, and not him. Wasn't he important enough as a friend to her? Didn't he have any importance in her life? Wasn't she the girl who always gave him chocolate ever since he was twelve? So why had she changed now?

The feelings inside Sasuke were becoming more and more muddled, but something else, a feeling he had felt various times before, erupted from within him. He could feel himself transforming, and in a matter of seconds, he was staring down at paws. How the hell did he turn into a cat? Was it raining while he was thinking? That wasn't important at the moment, what was important however was HOW THE HELL WAS HE SUPPOSED TO GO INTO CLASS LOOKING LIKE THIS?

Sasuke jumped out of the tree, and upon instinct scurried over to Sakura, who at this point was walking away. The minute her legs felt something furry, she looked down, only to be met with beady onyx eyes staring up at her. It took a moment for her mind to register what she was looking at.

"Holy! What the hell happened?" Sakura looked around; making sure no one had seen anything. "What the hell Sas-, I mean it's not even raining!" she exclaimed, making sure not to take his name.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and just because he was sure nobody was around, he replied

"I know that genius."

"Sheesh! What's with that tone, I'm trying to help you." Sakura replied bitterly, "Hm, wait here, I'll go see if there's any place I can hide you before they close the school doors." With that she ran off.

"Yeah I don't have much of a choice do I?" Sasuke muttered bitterly. Now all he had to do was make sure that he didn't get caught by anyone. The school didn't allow animals inside, so that could be a problem…

Before the bell rang, signifying the end of lunch break, Sakura came over to the spot where she had left Sasuke. She panted, and motioned for him to get in the bag that she had brought with her. Sasuke complied and jumped in, and the second the bell rang, she sprinted away, causing Sasuke to jostle about within the bag. She halted immediately, causing Sasuke to hit his small head on a very large looking science book. He felt the bag opening, and light filtered through causing him to go blind for a minute. He felt Sakura's hand slide in, and she gently wrapped it around Sasuke's furry little body. Then she lifted him out, keeping him close to her torso, in order to keep anyone from seeing anything. She then opened a door and took them both inside. Sasuke recognized the room as the nurses' office, except the nurse wasn't there.

"You'll be safe in here. Shizune sensei has a Biology lesson with us so she won't come here. And luckily, the person replacing her for a while is Shisui-san" Sakura told him as she placed him on the bed.

"Yo!" Shisui said, appearing from behind.

Sasuke peered at him curiously with his beady eyes, while Sakura thanked him and ran off to class.

"How come you're the one replacing the nurse today? Do you even know what you're doing?" Sasuke said, indignantly.

"Is that some way to be talking to your coach? Well, actually she," Shisui pointed at the door where she had just left, "found me and explained everything to me, so I helped her out. It was a lot of trouble…"

* * *

Around two o'clock, Mikoto was standing in the kitchen, lunch ready, and was waiting for Sasuke and Sakura to come home. The door clicked and she realized they were back; Sakura said "I'm home" as usual, but Sasuke only muttered something. Uh-oh, Mikoto guessed something was wrong.

Like most times those days, it was just the three of them at lunch. Sakura was the one who was making most of the conversation, but unlike normal days, Sasuke wasn't adding anything, not even his usual 'Hn'. Yep, Mikoto was sure that something was wrong.

"So, how was school Sasuke-chan?" Mikoto asked him.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura once, a sour look on his face, "Fine." Then he quickly finished his food and excused himself. Once he was gone, Mikoto turned to Sakura,

"Why is he in such a bad mood?"

"Wouldn't I like to know." Sakura sighed. _But maybe if he goes to his room, he might feel better._

Sasuke went upstairs and practically collapsed on the couch, without bothering to change his clothes. He started flipping channels on the TV, nothing in particular that he wanted to watch, but he just needed a distraction; a distraction from the fact that Sakura did not care about him enough to get him some chocolate…

When Sakura came upstairs, she went straight into her room to change for work. However, she soon realized that there was still some time left before she should actually departed. So, she decided to talk to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, there is something I still don't understand though. Why did you transform today even though it wasn't raining? Is that normal?" she asked while hovering over his collapsed from.

Sasuke stared at her stoically, "How am I supposed to know?" he answered bitterly.

"Why do keep saying things like that. Stop being so angry, and tell me what's wrong with you. Are you angry because you transformed untimely? Is that it?" Sakura asked, her brows furrowed in worry.

"…" he continued glaring at her.

"Well if that's it, no one saw so calm down." Sakura told him, a weak smile on her face. Sasuke continued to glare.

"Why would you give Lee chocolate?" Sasuke asked suddenly, the disgust in his voice clear.

"Is that why you're angry?" Sakura asked confused.

"Hn. Just answer my question." He glared.

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy, "It's tradition to give someone you care about chocolate or something else right? So I gave something to all my friends." Sakura told him.

"All? Aren't you forgetting someone? Someone important? No wait, I'm not important to you right? That's why you so easily forgot me!" Sasuke said, the bitterness in his tone becoming very hurtful.

Sakura looked at him, "What are you talkin-"

"Just forget it! Go away! I don't want to see you!" Sasuke yelled, his temper flaring.

Sakura felt very hurt, it wasn't as if she had forgotten him it was just the simple fact that "You don't even like sweets! So why would I waste the effort getting them for you?" Sakura's tone was becoming bitter too.

"Oh right, so it's wasting efforts if you have to bring me something." Sasuke yelled. "Fine! Then go to your other 'important' people."

"How could you say that after I helped you out so much today? Did that mean nothing to you? I ran around the whole school, tricked the nurse into putting Shisui-san in her place, and I risked detention for bringing an animal in school! I even came in class late! I even covered for you; all that I did for _you_, you jerk!" Sakura told him, but he just scoffed and told her to go away once more.

Sakura's eyes were glazing over, she was afraid she'd break down if she stayed any longer. So she ran, ran out of the room. She almost bumped into Itachi who had just walked in to stay for a few days. The tears were already spilling from her eyes once she was at the door though, so Itachi had seen them. Itachi quietly made his way upstairs, and once he had spotted his brother, he asked ever so casually

"What did you do this time?"

Sakura slowed down once she was far enough, wiping her tears away she headed over to work. It hurt, not the fact that Sasuke had yelled at her, but the fact that he was angry. Sakura knew that the only time Sasuke was angry was when there was some serious emotional turmoil within him. Although, sakura had no clue about the emotional aspect behind his little tantrum, she did know that whatever it was had hurt him; she had hurt him. And that was what hurt the most.

* * *

During work it took a lot of effort not to lash out on some of the very annoying customers, on Sakura's part. She had been fretting over Sasuke's behavior the whole time.

When it was finally time for her to take her leave, she was nervous; nervous about how she would apologize to him. That's when Rock Lee showed up.

"Sakura-san, I thought that since you were so thoughtful of me I would return the favor. Come, allow me to walk you home." He offered wit ha bright smile.

"Lee that's a very kind offer but you don't have to do anything." Sakura replied, keeping her irritation in check.

"No, I insist. It will be very youthful." He prompted.

"Well, I guess so," she sweat dropped, "but the thing is I'm not going home right now, I have to deliver some books to the Uchiha residence, so I"

"Well that's okay; I shall accompany you till there. Please I insist." Lee pleaded.

"Okay." She smiled.

* * *

While Sakura was at work, Fugaku even arrived home. That was the perfect time for Sasuke to discuss something he had been meaning to ask ever since morning. The whole family was sitting in the living room; Sasuke was actually leaning against the window.

"Tou-san." He asked, his father focused his attention on him, "I have to ask you something, about the curse."

"Go on." He prompted.

"Well, today it just so happened that I transformed into a cat, despite the fact that it wasn't raining. However, no one saw, so that is a good thing."

"Hmm, that is odd, but it isn't impossible." Fugaku contemplated.

"Not impossible? So it has happened to someone before?" Sasuke asked raising an eye brow.

"Well, to an uncle of mine. It is possible that the cause of the transformation changes during the year while the curse lasts. However, what is more important right now is to know what the new cause is." Fugaku spoke with a serious tone, "So since how long have you felt that the curse wasn't reacting properly?"

Sasuke thought about the answer for a while; according to what he knew it just happened today. However, when he thought about it, he realized that the day he, um, had spent the night in sakura's room, it had been raining and the curse hadn't taken effect then either. So it had been going on for a while now, but he had only just noticed…

"I think it has been about a month." Sasuke replied thoughtfully.

"I see, well can you tell us what you were doing, or what was happening when you transformed this time?" Fugaku asked thoughtfully.

"Well I…" he thought about it a while, "I think I was really angry at the time." Sasuke's eyes shifted to view the outside world from the window he was leaning on. Just as Sasuke was about to turn away, something pink outside caught his eye. He saw Sakura walking closer to the front door, smiling and looking towards her left. Sasuke's blood began to boil at the sight, no it wasn't her that was bothering him, it the one with her; Rock Lee… Sasuke clenched his fist; he didn't like it. He didn't like it when she was smiling like that for anyone other than him. That haunting feeling lodging itself in the pit of his stomach was beginning to consume him again. Once again he found himself transforming.

"Sasuke-chan, were you feeling angry again?" Mikoto asked concerned.

Itachi walked over to the window, in order to observe what his brother had been looking at. When his eyes spotted the girl, he smirked. Turning to face his parents, he said, the smirk never once leaving his face.

"I think his new cause has something to do with Sakura." Fugaku and Mikoto stayed silent for a moment, but then their faces broke out into grins. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at them, or at least that's what he was intending to do, but in his cat state he just seemed to be making a cute face.

"What is so funny about that? Isn't it just a cause?" he asked apparently un-amused.

Itachi was the first to speak, "Well Sasuke that sort of thing only happens when you have a very strong bond with someone. Some times that person's feelings can affect your transformation, but in other cases, as is yours, it is something you feel because of the other person. If I had to guess, I'd say it's jealousy that you feel." That caused a new wave of grins to be plastered on their faces.

"Alright Sakura-san, good luck with what you have to do. It was so youthful to walk with you, we should do it again sometime." Lee beamed.

"Thanks, I guess." Sakura sweat-dropped, and waved at him as he ran off. Once he was gone, sakura took out her spare keys, and opened the door. Announcing her arrival, she took off her shoes and made her way forward. She found everyone sitting in the lounge. She bowed in respect and searched the room for a certain raven-haired boy. However, she only saw a feline staring up at her, more like glaring, and then the cat indignantly walked past her up the stairs.

Sakura's eyes became downcast with hurt, _is he still mad at me?_ She wondered dolefully, when Mikoto spoke up.

"Welcome home Sakura-chan, don't mind Sasuke-chan, he's just a little irritated that there is a new cause for his curse." Mikoto said, waving her hand dismissively.

"New cause?" Sakura echoed, "What exactly is it?"

"Hmm, well that is a bit difficult to say." Itachi intervened, hoping his mother's knowing grin wouldn't be a dead give away, "However, Sasuke will need your help more often probably, and I think it would help if you don't leave his side very often." While saying the last sentence, a knowing grin broke out on his face too, causing Sakura to raise her brow.

"Well, alright. I'll do all I can to help." She replied honestly. _But it would help if that jerk would talk to me! Shannaro!_ Inner Sakura blared.

* * *

Sasuke made his way to his room, glad to see that the door was open, because he couldn't have done it himself in this state. He looked around his room once while making his way to his bed. Something caught his eye; a package lying on his bed. It looked as if it had been lying there a while too. Curiously Sasuke jumped over to the thing and glanced over it.

There was a note attached to it too, and Sasuke curiously began reading it.

"_Dear Sasuke-kun, _

_Happy Valentine's Day! I wanted to give you something, but I knew you didn't like sweets, so I got you this instead. I really hope you like it._

_Love, Sakura."_

Sasuke felt extremely stupid all of a sudden, he then used his claws to rip off the tape, and opened the package. It was a picture in a frame; it was probably taken at Naruto's house, a picture of the three of them, sakura in the middle and Naruto and him on either side of her. Sakura was smiling brightly as usual, and so was Naruto, and to top it all off, Sasuke himself was wearing one of his rare smiles. Sasuke felt a warm feeling flowing all over him, sakura hadn't forgotten him, in fact she had given him the most worthwhile gift he had ever received on this lame excuse of a holiday. Sasuke felt very guilty; he had yelled at her and told her to get lost and all that crap. How was he going to apologize to her now?

Suddenly an idea formed in his head, but now all he had to do was wait until after dinner.

* * *

Dinner was quite once more, and although there seemed to be no tension looming around, Sakura had refrained from saying anything. After dinner Sasuke left the house, not really telling anyone where he went. Sakura assumed he was still mad at her so she just glumly went to her room. Something within her broke when she was in there and without bothering to lock the door she just collapsed on her bed and cried.

Hours later, at around eleven, Sasuke finally felt ready to apologize. He thought Sakura would be awake being a Friday and all, so he hesitantly knocked at the door. When no one answered, he tried again, still not getting a reply. Annoyed he opened the door; he found the girl collapsed on her bed, asleep. Her cheeks were a bit red and looked wet, she hadn't even changed. Sasuke felt even worse when he realized something; she had cried herself to sleep.

Sasuke closed the door quietly, and quietly sat down on the side of her bed. Gently, he shook Sakura in order to wake her up. When she shuffled, he grew tense. Slowly she sat up, rubbing her puffy eyes to see clearly. She was surprised to see Sasuke sitting there, a grave look on his face.

"Sasuke-kun?" she grew worried, "is something wrong? Are you alright?" Honestly this girl seemed to care too much about others…

"Sakura," Sasuke began his voice quiet and remorseful, "I'm sorry for yelling at you." Sasuke wanted to explain why he felt all angry because he didn't get anything from her and then he felt like he wasn't important and all, but he couldn't. for one, he wasn't the spill-out-all-your-feeling kind of person, and the other reason was that the minute he said those words Sakura had embraced him. He was surprised for a second, thinking he didn't deserve this and all, but then he slowly embraced her back.

"It's okay." She whispered in his ear, and smiled when he hugged her back.

Once they had parted, Sasuke spoke again,

"Sakura, this is for you." Sasuke pulled out a single red rose from behind his back, and handed it to her, her wide eyes taking in the sight in contentment. Sasuke then ran a hand through his hair, and hesitantly said the next few words, "happy Valentine's day."

The faint blush on her cheeks and the bright, yet shy smile on her face was enough to make Sasuke smile, albeit a small smile but a smile nonetheless. He left her room a few minutes later, and in his euphoric state, he failed to notice the two pairs of eyes spying on him from behind a wall.

"Our little Sasuke-chan sure has grown up." Mikoto said, ecstatically and proudly at the same time.

"Aa." Itachi replied quietly, a small smile on his face.

* * *

**Alright, just a side note, this will proabably be Karin's final appearance. I don't really want to write a sakura and karin faceoff, because really that never really happened in the manga...**

**I hope i did an okay job with the chapter, because well, this wasn't part of my original idea, so i had to think about it while i was writing. PLEASE tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne. ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/n:-**

**sorry guys if the chapter is not up to usual standards, but you see, i think i have a case of writer's block or something, which is why this chapter's probably not one of my best. But please tell me what you think though, it'd be helpful. thank you!**

* * *

The streets had become busier, Naruto noticed absentmindedly, as he sat and waited for his best friend to arrive. He was sitting at his favorite restaurant, one that served the BEST ramen! He idly began tapping the table, unable to wait patiently, just wondering when the heck Sasuke would get there so that he could finally order his food. Once got bored of tapping his fingers on the table, he turned to the window once more. Most of the people had discarded their sweaters, due to it being march and all, but of course the chilly winter weather hadn't left completely as yet. However, there definitely was more of a bustle in the streets now as compared to last month.

Speaking of last month, Naruto's thoughts drifted to the events that had occurred the month prior. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips at the thought. Last month had been great for him, and in fact, due to what had happened, he had found himself meeting Sasuke less and less; so that was one reason why he had called Sasuke to meet him here.

He remembered it clearly, every word, every sound that had been around them. And of course he remembered the nervous dark haired girl and his own stupid self. A grin made its way onto his face as he recalled the fond memory; he liked it, but he'd admit he wasn't quite used to knowing that someone out there had held such a high regard for him, despite his utterly foolish self.

It was on Valentine's Day, he was packing up his stuff in an almost empty classroom, the only other occupant being his partner, Hinata. When he was about to leave, saying good-bye to the dark haired girl, she stopped him by giving out a small "Umm…" He stopped, looking back at the girl with a confused look. She had nervously fiddled with her thumbs, and then stretched out her arm towards him. Naruto looked at her confused; he couldn't grasp the fact that any one would actually give him some chocolate, other than Sakura of course who always did. Hinata had spoken up then, well she had said something in a quiet voice and though Naruto had sensed the nervousness and hesitation in her voice, he had foolishly asked her to speak up as he could not hear her. She stopped talking then, her face red, and eyes focused on the floor, and Naruto mentally slapped himself for unnerving the girl. He took the chocolate out of her hands, and gave her a big grin thanking her profusely. Hinata looked up from the ground, a sense of determination in her eyes, and despite the nervousness that she had been facing, she told him, with every ounce of courage that she could muster.

The words still played over and over in his head.

"_I used to cry and give up, thinking that I could never amount to anything. I always quit whenever I couldn't seem to do anything. Even my father was disappointed with me. But, I watched you…all this time… the way you would always work hard despite your setbacks, the way you would always fight back, even when all those people called you names. You never once gave up, never lost hope, never stopped believing in yourself…and I think that is very admirable of you. I, I wanted to be like you, to over take you, your smile is what saved me. So that is why, I… I love you…"_

Naruto remembered he had been shocked when he heard her speak, of course he never expected her or anyone else for that matter to say that to him. He had always assumed that people saw him with a great lack of respect, and if anything had only made fun of him. Even the few girls in their group of friends made fun of him, but he realized, she never had. She was always silent when anyone insulted him, and she did not seem to appreciate the insult. Naruto couldn't help but feel a warm feeling bubble up inside of him; all his life he had been taunted and called a loser by many of his peers, but he had refused to let that bring him down. Instead he focused on gaining everyone's respect, and the fact hat he had earned the respect and love of this one person, meant a lot to him. It was a start, he thought.

After Hinata had confessed to him, he had been at a loss for words for the first time in his life. His face was becoming red from the happiness that he had been feeling at the time, and he couldn't find the right words to respond to the girl. In the end all that he had managed to say was thank you, and that he liked people like her. But later, when he found himself pondering more and more about the confession, he realized, he liked Hinata as well. Perhaps, not yet in the same way, but he was willing to give it a try; for her sake, for the sake of the person who appreciated him completely, even his down side.

Once that realization had dawned upon him, he had finally worked the nerve (because he didn't want to mess up and lose her respect after gaining it after many pains) to ask her out. And of course, since it is Naruto we're talking about, he messed up, being his clumsy self. He had thought that she would run off laughing at him mockingly, but no. She had stayed, and in fact she had said that she liked him completely even the goofy side of him. That was the first time he had heard anyone say that to him, and he liked it. It compelled him to lean forward and kiss her.

Ever since then Naruto and Hinata had been together, and Naruto had never felt happier. He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw Sasuke sit across from him.

"Hey dobe." He greeted casually.

"Hey." Naruto replied, his tone still a bit dreamy from his previous thoughts.

Sasuke ignored his tone and asked, "So what is this all about? Why'd you call me here today?"

"Geez Teme!" Naruto exclaimed, coming back to the present, "Can't a guy call his best friend to meet him? I mean seriously, we haven't had any one on one time in like forever! And here you are, asking me why I called you! Dude, didn't you like miss me at all?" Naruto asked feigning hurt.

"Well, dobe, I didn't actually miss your screaming that's for sure."

"So that's your indirect way of saying that you're glad you're here." Naruto smiled, "I guess it's about time I told you…but don't flip out or anything I mean I meant to tell you, you being my best friend, but well I kept it from everyone. I had to wait until we got a bit more serious, before I told anyone, so don't feel hurt or anything…." Sasuke interrupted his rambling.

"You're dating Hinata." He stated simply, leaving Naruto baffled.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked incredulously, although he figured it did explain why he wasn't hurt, but then again this was Sasuke.

"I'm not you," Sasuke said simply, earning a glare from Naruto, "I mean you're so dense that if it were me secretly going out with Hinata you would never have figured it out."

Naruto let his words sink in, before he frantically grabbed his head with both hands. "Teme…" he stuttered, "Don't tell me you really are secretly going out with her! I trusted you! You can't do this to me, we only just started going out and you're already stealing her from me!" Naruto exclaimed, in sincere worry, "You don't get it Teme! She's different from all the others, she likes me for who I am, and she understands me completely! Don't do this to me- AAHH!" Naruto was hit on his head for being too loud and overly dramatic. He rubbed the lump forming on his head, and stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"Teme, we need to get you together with someone." Naruto said in a serious tone that left Sasuke utterly confused. Sasuke raised an eye brow at him, "Why the sudden interest in getting me together with someone?"

"Because you idiot! If you're with someone already, I'll know that Hinata is safe from your clutches. Even though I trust her not to fall into your traps, but still you can never be too careful." Naruto said, sounding like he had just given the world's most brilliant idea.

"Calm down idiot, I was only speaking hypothetically, and honestly I have no interest in Hinata." Sasuke told him.

Naruto smiled mischievously at him, "Why? Do you already have someone in mind?" Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds before scoffing, and though he would not admit it, the words 'Something like that' were playing around in his head. "Just order something already!" Sasuke told him.

At that point Naruto realized how hungry he had been, and as if proving the said point his stomach grumbled at that instant. "Oh right, but just so you know, you're paying."

"Why in the name of hell would I pay for your meal?" Sasuke asked, but there was no irritation in his tone.

"Hmm... let's see now, first you come here late, leaving me hungry, and then you get me all worked up over nothing. I think that is excuse enough1" Naruto finished with a tone of finality. Once they had ordered, Naruto looked towards his best friend and asked him,

"So teme, what's up?"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto for a moment and then turning away he replied, "Well…Sakura's birthday is coming up…" Naruto smirked knowingly, crossing his arms across his chest in an arrogant manner.

"I know already. March 28th right?" he said.

"Wait, so you remember her birthday, and yet you tend to forget mine; me, whom you refer to as your best friend." Sasuke scoffed. Naruto's face faulted in embarrassment.

"Gah! Well, you know teme, she's special. Like a sister I've never had." Naruto said, trying to defend himself.

Sasuke smirked, "Yeah she's special alright." Sasuke said that, a little too sincerely, and thus he felt the need to add something to his statement, "Wait till I tell Hinata that." Sasuke teased.

"No teme, don't do that, you're going to twist up the facts and give her the wrong message!" Naruto exclaimed, obviously worried about his friends antics.

Soon their meals arrived, and silence ensued as they ate; well no one was talking, but the sound of Naruto's loud and obnoxious snoring did fill the air. After slurping down a load of noodles, Naruto turned to Sasuke and asked him very casually but in an obvious attempt to mock, "So Sasuke the girl you have in mind, who is she? Do I know her? Is she cute?"

"Shut it." That left no room for argument.

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke walked home together after Sakura's shift from work was over. Sakura was mildly surprised though, as Sasuke had only once before come to pick her up from work and that had actually led Sasuke to the hospital, so she wasn't too excited about that. Well, she noticed that Sasuke had been around her a bit more often since a few weeks; and she assumed it had something to do with the new cause of the curse, which she had yet to be told about… Itachi-san had said that it would help if she never left his side right?

Well actually, she had noticed that even Mikoto-sama was trying to keep the two of them close together. She'd often find Mikoto-sama getting the two of them seated together, or she'd always hint Sakura to go to Sasuke, which Sakura was more than happy to comply with, but there was just something in the way Mikoto-sama would hint things that Sakura would begin to wonder if she was up to something. Some days, Sakura even found Mikoto-sama glancing dreamily at the two of them during lunch, her hands clasped together and a smile on her face. Sakura was beginning to wonder if she made it too obvious that she loved Sasuke; that would be quite an embarrassing situation. However, Sasuke always seemed to not take note of any of it, either that or he would ignore his mother's odd glances and hide his discomfort, but Sakura knew him well enough to know he did feel uncomfortable. What if he was aware that she loved him too? Shoot! That really was embarrassing! _Or maybe it has to do with the new cause of the curse; I mean they're always telling me to stay by Sasuke's side. But what in the name of hell is the reason of the curse now? What could cause Mikoto-sama and Sasuke-kun to act like this, making me all embarrassed!_ Sakura thought furiously to herself.

Sakura had pondered over the cause many times now. She realized that in the past few weeks, Sasuke hadn't transformed all that much, maybe one or two times. She didn't recall any similarities in the weather conditions either of the two times, but she did recall a few similarities in his behavior, however she couldn't pinpoint that as the cause because well she had no clue if the curse worked that way! Well, all Sakura knew was that each time Sasuke had transformed those two times, he had become very cranky, and would often snap at her. He did apologize later, though. All this had Sakura wondering what exactly the new cause of the curse was. She wasn't exactly sure if human emotions were tapped into it, but if it were, she'd guess it was whenever Sasuke got angry, or perhaps when he felt miserable…

They had taken the shorter route, one that went through the busier streets, the ones lined with shops and cafés. The streets were bustling, even at this time, Sakura noted absently. The streets were lit with the various street lamps, and the shop lights, the whole atmosphere had a very warm atmosphere about it. Despite that, Sakura felt a sudden chill every time a gust of wind blew. She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her arms; obviously reverting to a quarter-sleeved shirt was not the best idea she'd ever had.

"Cold?" she heard Sasuke ask, cocking a brow.

"No, it's just the sudden wind's giving me goose bumps." Sakura replied, letting her arms hang down once more, in an attempt to prove her point. She shivered slightly as another gust of wind blew, not going unnoticed by Sasuke. Sasuke eyed his own thin jacket; it wasn't all that warm but it had long sleeves. Sighing he took off his jacket and handed it to her. She eyed him curiously, before slowly taking the jacket from his out stretched arm. She blushed slightly and thanked him, putting it on. He smirked at her; he was glad as long as she wasn't shivering anymore.

While passing down the streets, Sakura observed some of the items displayed in the windows. Something in a jewelry store window caught her eye, and she stopped mid-step to look at the thing. It was a necklace, displayed at the window. It was the kind that had big stones on it, a very large, round turquoise colored stone in the centre. Various other stones on either sides of the necklace, bright colors like orange and red, and a few hints of bronze in between. Sakura hadn't had the chance to buy one like that one, but unfortunately for her, she'd need a little more money in order to but that. Sasuke had stopped and had to walk back to her to see why she had stopped. He saw her browsing around the window, but her yes continuously made their way to a specific necklace, lingering for a moment before she'd turn away. Sasuke cleared his throat, getting her attention, and she smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

"Sorry, I usually get side-tracked on my way home. Should we leave?" she asked lamely. Sasuke nodded as Sakura started walking away once more, his gaze lingered on the necklace for a while before he too followed.

When they arrived home, Mikoto looked as if she was trying to stifle a squeal. She had the biggest smile on her face, and unable to speak, she gestured for the two of them to come for dinner. The two followed confused at her reaction. It hit Sakura much later that the whole time she had been wearing Sasuke's jacket, but unbeknownst to her, Mikoto had been getting the wrong idea the whole time.

* * *

The oven gave a 'ting' before Mikoto excitedly made her way towards it. She opened the oven; her hands clad in oven mitts, and took out the tasty looking treat from the oven. She set it on the table to cool off. It wasn't every day that she made anything sweet in her house; heck, her family wasn't too fond of sweets, which was a shame because she could never try all those great looking recipes for sweets. Today, however, was a special day. Three girls were busy setting up some thing s upstairs, and all four of the females were waiting for the final person to arrive. Then the fun would begin.

Sakura arrived at home, giving her usual 'I'm home.' before she took off her shoes. Mikoto-sama arrived almost instantly at the door, embracing the girl and greeting her kindly. This was new... not only that but the house was filled with the distinct aroma of chocolate.

"Mikoto-sama did you make something sweet for desert? Oooh it smells delicious!" Sakura exclaimed and clasped her hands together, taking in the delicious aroma wafting in the air.

Mikoto nodded absently, "Yes, why don't you go upstairs?"

"Oh right." Sakura rubbed the back of her head while smiling sheepishly. She headed up the stairs, and the second she set foot on the floor upstairs, she was bombarded with the loud announcement of "HAPPPY BIRTHDAY!" the announcement caused her to stumble backwards, but she caught herself just in time.

When she focused on the sight before her, she saw three grinning faces staring up at her; a blonde, a brunette and a dark haired girl; other wise known as Ino, Tenten and Hinata. She smiled at them and pulled them into a group hug, but she did reprimand them for almost making her fall down the stairs. Mikoto came up at that instant, the chocolate cake in her hands, and Sakura's face lit up even more. They were all in it.

She cut her cake, and the first thing she did was feed it to Mikoto-sama, then Ino and Hinata and Tenten. The cake was delicious, even if it was Mikoto's third time ever making a cake…

They chatted, laughed, danced, and finally watched some movie that was playing on TV. Mikoto watched the movie with them, after they had insisted she do so. They didn't mind letting her stay and Mikoto herself enjoyed herself, finally being in the company of cheerful females, a fresh change from being surrounded by introverted males. It reminded her of the days she was an eighteen year old girl…Also, she had been enjoying spending time with who she believed, was her future daughter-in-law…

Once Fugaku had arrived, the girls decided it best to leave, thinking it best not to impose their presence on the man. Sakura hugged them all, thanking them for giving her such a wonderful surprise. She even thanked Mikoto profusely for allowing all this; Mikoto shrugged it off as nothing much, and proceeded to serve dinner to her stick in the mud of a husband.

Some time later, Sasuke finally arrived home, refusing dinner saying he'd already eaten at Naruto's place. He walked up the stairs, fingering a small box lying in his jacket pocket. Once he arrived upstairs, he stiffened. He saw Sakura sitting on a cushion, looking out the window, seemingly distracted by her own thoughts. Oh great! Now Sasuke was nervous. He had played a few scenarios in his head where he'd managed to successfully hand over the box he had been fingering with. However, in his head, it was different; Sakura was supposed to be sitting on the couch watching TV, NOT sitting on a cushion! This difference between reality and imagination unnerved him a little; he began thinking twice about what he should do and whether or not he should go through with it.

When he moved closer to her cushion, she noticed his presence and turned to him, smiling her special smile.

"Welcome back Sasuke-kun, how was your day?" she asked him, her voice the same sweet tone she used everyday.

Sasuke just responded with an "Aa." and although it didn't make any sense in the context, he couldn't come up with anything better in his nervous state.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked, confused. Sasuke wordlessly sat down beside her, his head turned away from her. This caused her to be even more concerned. Sasuke fingered with the box in his pocket, while Sakura asked him if he was alright once more.

When he had finally worked up the nerve, he turned to face her, taking his box out of the pocket, and handed it to her, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

Sakura took the box, and opened it; her eyes widened slightly and then softened, a bright smile fixing itself on her face. Inside was the same necklace that had caught her eye that day. It was sweet of him to remember, not only the gift, but also the fact that it was her birthday. She hadn't even known that Sasuke was aware of the fact. She faced Sasuke, who still had his face turned away from hers, and once he sensed her turning towards him, he whispered "Happy Birthday."

Sakura leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek; it caused him to widen his eyes in shock for a moment. He could feel his neck heating up. Once Sakura parted, a blush adorned on her face as well, she thanked him and smiled. He turned away once again, his closed eyes twitching in embarrassment.

"Hn." He said and walked off, into the confines of his room. Once he was inside, his hand unconsciously lifted to his cheek, it was still tingling. A small smile appeared on his face, _annoying girl…_was the last thing that came to his mind before he collapsed onto his bed in a deep sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/n:-**

**Yay! a new hapter, and for once it wasn't too troublesome. As always, reviews will be appreciated, and a big thanks to all those who have reviewed and read! You guys are awesome. I hope you like it! ^-^**

* * *

Two weeks before their _actual_ final exams, they had holidays. Well, actually, school was still on, but people refused to attend, seeing it as a waste of their time to attend. If anyone did show up, which was usually two or three people, they'd end up having free lessons and wasted their time roaming around idly. Though the teachers were sick of such casual behavior, seeing as how they still _had _to come to school only to be met with empty classrooms, they were the least bit glad that the students were studying at home; or at least that's what they _hoped, _but knowing students, every sensei in their right mind knew that the students would spend a maximum of two or maybe three hours _actually_ studying. The rest of the time was probably video games, long phone calls, TV and who knows what else the generation does nowadays!

Thus, Sasuke, like most other students was also taking the days off. He spent most of his day with a book in his hands, much like Sakura who'd be reading one of her course books with so much concentration that she'd lose track of time very often. Once, she had even fallen asleep on one of the sofas in the sitting room, and Sasuke had decided it best not to leave her out there. However, unfortunately for him, someone_, his_ _mother,_ had witnessed this act from the shadows, and now she was more determined than ever to get them together; she occasionally gave Sasuke a suggestive/knowing smile whenever Sakura was mentioned, while Sakura was also placed on the receiving end of the same kind of treatment whenever Sasuke was involved. However, both of them had made a silent vow to ignore this treatment, seeing it as the best way to keep things from getting awkward, and concentrate on the more important things; their exams.

It was in the timeframe of these two weeks that Sasuke had been sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Physics chapter on "Radioactivity" that the phone rang. He ignored it for a while, trying but failing to ignore the incredibly irritating ringing. Why didn't his mother just pick it up? It occurred to him that she was busy doing the laundry. Sasuke decided to let the damn thing ring, but then a reprimand met his ears, courtesy of his mother, and Sasuke was forced to pick it up. Groaning he went over to the phone reading the caller ID before picking it up. _Dobe!_ He thought and gruffly picked up the phone, muttering a quiet "What do you want idiot?"

"Geez teme, don't you even say 'hi' anymore?" Naruto asked in a mock disapproving voice.

"Look if this is one of your pointless 'humorous' phone calls, then I'm shutting the phone right now." Sasuke replied in an irritated voice.

"God! What's up with you? I only called up my best friend to ask how he was progressing with his studying, and here he is telling me to shut the phone." Naruto said in a mock hurt voice.

"Is that all?" Sasuke asked impatiently, "Look dude, I don't have time to waste talking to you right now. So either tell me what you want or I'm going to hang up."

"Wasting your time?" Naruto yelled over the phone, causing Sasuke to wince, "Is that what you say to your best friend TEME!" Naruto yelled, and was going to continue his rant but Sasuke just hung up on him. Sasuke lingered at the phone for a while, knowing that Naruto would call again any second. When the phone didn't ring he went back to his seat. The second he sat down the phone rang. Abruptly standing up, and stalking over to the phone angrily, Sasuke grabbed the receiver harshly and shouted into it.

"Why didn't you call immediately? Do you know how annoying it is to get all the way over here if you just sat down? What do you want anyway?" Sasuke let out his anger, calming down a bit. However, he got a little irritated when he heard snickering on the other side.

"Serves you right for hanging up! I planned it out this way to annoy you, and apparently it worked!" Naruto exclaimed happily, "But seriously, I need your help."

Sasuke calmed down, knowing his friend was just plain annoying and accepting it, "What do you want help with?"

"Studying. DUH! I thought you knew me well enough to know that!" Naruto yelled teasingly.

"Hmm, but last time I checked, your girlfriend was your permanent tutor. And I seem to recall you saying she was 'better than me'. So why do you want my help now? Did she finally realize that you were a brainless idiot and give up on you?" Sasuke teased him back; if Naruto was going to be annoying, then so was he.

"Come on! Don't be like that. I'm sure one day through _a lot_ of practice; you'll be just as great as her. Besides, it's not like she gave up on me; and what do you mean '_brainless idiot'_! Have you seen my latest scores, you jerk? They're amazingly good! Anyway, she's not available to help me right now, and my mom keeps _terrorizing_ me to study, so I decided you were better help than none at all." Naruto babbled.

"So where is she anyway?" Sasuke asked, trying to forget the fact that Naruto had practically called him second best.

"My mom? She's at home, doing the laundry. Why?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Not your mom you dope! Hinata." Sasuke replied, fighting the urge to start laughing at his stupidity.

"Oh!" Naruto said, "I think she's out with her friends. She said something about meeting up with Sakura, Ino and Tenten at that café, what's it called? You know the one where Bushy Brows works."

Sasuke stiffened unconsciously; Sakura was going to the café where _he_ worked. No! Sasuke had to be there and make sure Bushy Brows didn't try anything funny. But why the hell should he do that? Oh right; because Sakura was an important friend, and she had the annoying ability to be way too innocent when it came to such things. Sasuke knew he had to be there, to protect her…or at least that's what he convinced himself of.

"Teme?" Naruto said when Sasuke remained silent for too long.

"Oh, right. Meet me there in a few minutes." Sasuke said hurriedly.

"Meet you where? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, evidently baffled.

"At the café! Don't you ever pay attention?" Sasuke mocked.

"But why are we going there?"

"Do you want my help or not?" Sasuke asked him, not really allowing him to answer before hanging up. Naruto stared at the phone, wondering what the heck was wrong with Sasuke all of a sudden, but then shrugged it off and went to get his books; after all as long he was getting help he couldn't care less. Sasuke grabbed some of his books and after yelling out where he was going, he left his house.

* * *

Hinata sat at one of the booths in the corner of the café. It was surprisingly busy at the time, and there were a few people from her class present there too. She had gotten one of the best booths in the place; for one it had a great view of everything in the café itself, _and_ it even had a great outside view too. Hinata was waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive; they had mostly spent their days off school at home studying, and now they thought it'd be nice to see each other. Also, it was a great excuse to get Sakura's help in a few concepts…Hinata straightened up when she saw the said pink haired girl enter the café from the front door. Hinata waved at her friend, and once sakura had spotted her she smiled. Sakura walked over to the booth, smiling at the dark haired girl.

"Good you're finally here. When are Ino and Tenten getting here?" Hinata asked as the pinkette sat down.

'Oh, they didn't call you? They told me they were meeting up with their boyfriends and couldn't make it. Honestly, the one day we plan to meet each other, they bail on us; it's just like the whole movie thing all over again!" Sakura let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oh well that's a shame." Hinata said quietly, "They should really inform me beforehand, I mean Naruto-kun asked me if I could help him out today, but I cancelled on him because of this." The irritation in Hinata's voice was evident; heck this happened to her a lot.

Sakura smiled at her friend, "Hey, it's not a complete waste, I mean we're both here." Hinata smiled back. "Shikamaru, Neji, Naruto…you guys are really lucky you know?" Sakura spoke wistfully, referring to her friends.

"What do you mean? I thought you and Sasuke were, I don't know, getting together." Hinata replied confused.

Sakura laughed half heartedly, "No, where'd you get that idea?" Hinata shrugged in response. "Actually I'm not so sure about what we are. At times I think we're just friends, but then sometimes Sasuke-kun does something so sweet that I feel that we might be something more… But you know this is _him _we're talking about, and although it may not seem that way, but he cares _a lot_ about his family and friends…so I'm not so sure in what way I'm supposed to take his kindness…However, all I know for sure is that I really love him and he's important to me!" Sakura ended.

"Oi! Hinata!" a familiar voice was heard.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata and Sakura turned to the sound of the voice.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto had arrived at the front door of the café. Right before they had opened the door though, something occurred to Naruto.

"You know Teme, I just realized, if we're here and Hinata's here, then I don't really need your help. That's why we're here aren't we? You didn't want to teach me at all did you?" Naruto pouted, feigning hurt again. Sasuke however, wasn't really listening; he was more focused on finding a head of pink hair.

Naruto was the one who spotted Hinata though, and they made their way close to the booth, close enough that Sasuke heard Sakura talking about someone who was important to her, or rather much to his irritation, a boy who was important to her. Once Naruto couldn't hold his excitement in any more, he called out to Hinata, waving enthusiastically at the girl. Said girl, and her female companion, turned and saw the blonde boy grinning. Hinata stood up, and hugged Naruto in greeting; he in turn wrapped his arms around her waist. They shared a short, yet passionate, kiss before parting and smiling sheepishly at the other two, faces tinted red.

Sasuke and Sakura stood; Sasuke sweat dropping, while Sakura smiling. The four took seats at the booth, Naruto and Hinata sitting next to each other, while Sasuke and Sakura sat next to each other.

"What brings you two here?" Sakura asked casually, not really minding the uninvited company.

"I don't really know. One minute I ask Teme to tutor me and the next he says we have to meet up here. I think this was all part of his plan to get out of tutoring me!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke, who just scoffed, causing both girls to giggle. "But anyway, now I don't need your help jerk!" Naruto pointed out, and then turned to Hinata and put an arm around her waist pulling her closer, "Because now I have her!" Hinata smiled shyly and wound an arm around Naruto as well.

"Awwww! You two look sooo cute together!" Sakura gushed, clasping her hands together. Sasuke noted vaguely that she looked a lot like his mother when she did that.

"Good day."

The waiter arrived at their table then, and they turned their attention to him. Sakura was mildly surprised when she realized that she recognized the waiter, big eyes, bushy eye brows and that bright smile.

"Lee-san?" Sakura asked, "I didn't know you worked here." She smiled at him, causing Sasuke to give a disgusted look, which thankfully went unnoticed by everyone.

"Sakura-san! How pleasant it is to see you here!" Lee exclaimed, excitement audible in his voice.

"Hey Bushy Brows! Can you take my order already, I'm hungry!" Naruto whined, and Sasuke mentally thanked him for diverting Lee's attention.

"Right away. Sakura-san what would you like?" Lee deliberately asked her first, ignoring the pained look on Naruto's face when he did so. Sakura giggled at Naruto's face and light-heartedly ordered what she wanted. Lee jotted her order down, and turned to Hinata, and then Naruto who ordered after saying an overly exaggerated "Finally!" Once he was done, Lee turned to Sasuke. Sasuke, who had been inwardly glaring at Lee the whole time, said he didn't want anything. Lee looked at him confused, but then shrugged it off and proceeded to get the drinks for the girls and the ramen for Naruto.

Sasuke relaxed once Lee had disappeared, but then stiffened again when he returned with the orders. He handed Sakura her drink with the BRIGHTEST smile Sasuke had ever seen Lee give, which caused Sasuke to glare at him, which once again went unnoticed. Naruto began to slurp down his food instantly, and the girls just sipped their drinks; Sakura did reprimand Naruto for his appalling eating habits though.

The four of them stayed there for about an hour; Hinata tutored Naruto, while occasionally rewarding him with a peck on the cheek every time he got something right, Sakura and Sasuke stuck with independent studying, Sakura occasionally looked up to nibble on her sandwich. She had been taking small bites out of the sandwich for the past hour and still about half of it was left; maybe she'd lost her appetite or something. The café was almost empty by then, apparently the rush hour was over, and only a few people were left. Heck, there were so little people that Lee was allowed to have a break, which he spent with his friends, much to Sasuke's disapproval. Even worse was the fact that Lee had decided that he needed some help with Physics; and who better to help him than Sakura? Sasuke reluctantly let lee sit next to her, making it easier for her to teach him, and sat on the side of the booth's seat.

Sasuke couldn't stand it; Sakura kept teaching Lee, and would smile and laugh at things that Lee would do or say. It was annoying. Sasuke couldn't even concentrate on what he was reading anymore, his mind would unconsciously drift to Sakura every time she'd say something, and she was talking a lot. What irritated him the most about all this was the fact that he had, albeit not purposefully, been shut off from his friends. Naruto was busy with Hinata while Sakura was busy with Lee; Sasuke had never felt this isolated before, and he hated it. What was worse was that neither Sakura nor Naruto planned to do anything about it! They were to busy…_she_ was too busy.

Unable to control the growing emotions within him, Sasuke stood up abruptly, his hand banging the table not so loud as to alert the whole place, but loud enough to alert his 'friends'. Sasuke collected his books, and without so much as a nod of a greeting, he brusquely walked off. He knew the curse was going to act up soon and he'd have to get out of public view.

His friends saw him leave, his bad mood was practically radiating off of him, and that made Naruto and Sakura worry. He even ignored Naruto calling his name, causing the blonde boy to jolt up from his seat.

Sakura also stood up, and stretched an arm in front of Naruto, preventing him from bolting off after him.

"Don't worry ill talk to him." Sakura assured him, but Naruto protested. He only sat down once Sakura gave him one of her glares that said don't- test- my- patience- I –said- I'll- do- it –so- I'll -do –it! With that settled, Sakura said goodbye to her friends and headed out after him, out the back where they had seen him leave from. Sakura knew that the curse was probably taking over him, she had seen him act that way a few times before, and not only that but he chose to go out from the secluded area which was a clear sign that the curse was acting up.

Sakura searched for any signs of movement in the empty area, and she spotted it; a small tree. She walked over to it, and surely she spotted Sasuke lying down, his head resting on his paws, head turned away from her.

"Sasuke-kun?" she said quietly, her brows furrowing in concern when he didn't respond. She called out a little louder this time, but he didn't so much as flinch. Sakura huffed in irritation, putting her hands on her hips, she called out sternly "Uchiha Sasuke answer me right now before I come up there and get to you myself!" The black colored feline turned its attention towards Sakura and gave a confused look. Sakura was a bit surprised to find that the cat didn't have its usual black eyes, but rather green eyes.

"What?" an irritated tone met her ears, and she gasped in surprise when she realized that the voice didn't come from the cat, but instead came from right behind her. Turning around abruptly, Sakura was met with the familiar site of Sasuke's onyx eyes, him towering over her like he always did.

"Sasuke-kun, you didn't transform?" she asked confusedly, "Bu ti thought you would have…"

"Hn. Is that all you have to say? Why are you out here? Don't you have somewhere better to be, like with them?" Sasuke asked sourly.

"No I came to ask you what's wrong. You seemed like you were angry when you stormed out. Are you alright?" she asked genuine concern laced in her voice.

Sasuke grit his teeth, is something wrong? YES! Everything's wrong! His two best friends were completely ignoring him, and it frustrated him. Why was it that other people were so important to them? That some_ boy_ was so important to _her?_! Sasuke couldn't quite place his feelings at the moment, but he was sure it wasn't jealousy. Had it been jealousy, the curse would have taken over by now. No, Sasuke supposed he felt hurt. Yes, it was painful to know that you are not important to someone; and right now Sasuke really needed something, anything that would work as a consolation.

Unconsciously Sasuke leaned forward, resting his head on Sakura's shoulder desperately needing comfort. Sakura lifted her arms and pulled him into an embrace, gently asking him what was bothering him. Sasuke smirked into her shoulder, unsure of how to really answer that question.

"Sakura…" Sasuke spoke into her shoulder, making it tingle. Sakura lifted one of her hands so that it was lying comfortingly on Sasuke's cheek.

"Sasuke-kun?" she prompted.

"…Don't leave me alone…" Sasuke mumbled into her shoulder bringing his arms up to hold her close.

Sakura didn't really understand, after all wasn't he the one who had left? Despite that crucial detail, she embraced him warmly, "I won't I promise."

They stayed like that for a while, until Sasuke pulled away.

"Let's just go home." He told her, and she smiled, her cheeks tinted pink, and complied.

She texted Hinata that her and Sasuke were going home, and the dark haired girl informed this to her blonde friend, allowing him to finally calm down. They headed out at that instant.

* * *

The next day, Sakura could barely manage to stand properly at work. By the end of her shift she felt weak, her legs felt like they would give away any second, and her head was throbbing a bit. How she was going to make it home like that? She weakly walked towards the front door, but stopped when she felt something tap her shoulder. She turned and met a pair of onyx eyes, and although at first she too had thought it was Sasuke, it wasn't.

It was one of the store's most regular customers; in fact he was so regular that Sakura had actually bothered to remember his name. However, with her headache, she couldn't quite place it. What was it again?

"Hello, I am Sai." He said, a smile plastered on his face. Right. Sai, that's what his name was. She remembered him, he was somewhat emotionally challenged and to fix that 'problem', he'd often be seen there reading some self help books about behaving in social situations. An odd character really, and he had the tendency to make rude remarks without even realizing he'd done so.

"Excuse me, I'm no expert, but I read in a book once that it is very polite to help someone in need. Judging from your haggard appearance, I'd say you're one in need, so how may I help you?" he asked, the same smile plastered on his face.

A vein popped in Sakura's head as she _slowly_ realized that he had said she looked bad. She ignored him, but he was persistent, and in some way, which Sakura had no idea how it happened, he ended up walking her home.

The walk itself was no problem, no, rather it was the tiresome company that she had. Sai had insisted upon giving Sakura a nickname, saying it was the easiest way to ease situations, other than smiles. So, he ended up calling her 'ugly', but at the moment Sakura had too massive of a headache to actually punch him for insulting her.

Sasuke who had been sitting in the living room, without much to do, bolted up from his lying position when he noticed someone coming up from the side. It was Sakura. However, he noticed, she was not alone; a boy whom he did not recognize, with black hair and inky black eyes was walking with her. Sasuke tensed once again, could this be the boy that she had mentioned at the café? Sasuke scrutinized her to see any signs of his theory being correct. Sasuke noticed that Sakura was averting her eyes from the boy, Sasuke thought shyly, and he just kept smiling. He had a sickening smile, not that it had anything to do with the fact that he was currently lingering too close to Sakura, Sasuke reasoned. The most obvious fact however, was, from what he could see in the light of the street lights, was the blush adorned on her cheeks. The whole picture seemed like that of a girl who was in love! And it was sickening! Furthermore, the boy had the audacity to lean forward, close to her face, before he left. Sasuke wanted so much to just open the door, pull Sakura in, and ram his fist into the Damn brat's face. Before he knew it, he had transformed into a cat, pathetically staring out at Sakura's reaction. He sighed when he heard Sakura screech "What the hell are you doing!" and punch him away. The boy looked confusedly at her, and Sasuke noted that she was rubbing her temples. She then clutched onto the door handle, as if for support. Odd. She then muttered something irritated, and stepped inside so abruptly that Sasuke saw her stagger for a moment.

She muttered an 'I'm home' and started walking directly towards the stairs. Sasuke, although a bit angry, followed silently. He panicked a bit when he noticed Sakura almost falling off the steps, but she managed to catch herself; she did clutch her head though. Sasuke quickened his pace so that he was bounding right behind her, she did not notice however, she was in a daze. Sakura collapsed onto her bed, breathing heavily, and Sasuke really began to worry. Sasuke jumped up on the bed, next to her face; he noticed that the pink tinted on her cheeks was still present, but her face was pale. Sasuke placed a paw on her forehead, she relaxed a bit, but Sasuke on the other hand stared wide-eyed. She was burning.

Sasuke sprang down the stairs and informed his mother of her condition. Mikoto sprang into action, preparing soup, and she handed Sasuke a small wet towel. Sasuke took it in his mouth and went up the stairs, into the ill girl's room. Placing himself next to her head, he placed the wet cloth onto her forehead, her breathing eased a bit. Sasuke sat there, observing her as she slept; it wasn't a peaceful slumber, he knew she was in some kind of pain.

After his hour was up, Sasuke transformed back into his regular self, and took to sitting on a chair placed at her bedside, seeing it as more appropriate than lying next to her. After a while, Mikoto brought up the soup she had prepared, telling Sasuke to wake up the girl. Once sakura woke up, she groggily sat up in her bed, her head still throbbing. She barely knew what was going on, and was about to spill the soup that had been placed on her bed, but Sasuke prevented it.

"Sakura, you have a fever. Eat this and then eat your medicine. Kaa-san's orders." He added, trying to make her smile, but failing. She was still in a daze, and mumbled something incoherent. She picked up the spoon, trying to get the soup into her mouth. However, her hand was shaking so much, from all the weakness she was feeling, that all the soup just fell into the bowl before it even reached her mouth. Huffing, she tried again, and again, and again. She failed each time, and muttered a curse to her trembling fingers. Sasuke saw her childish behavior and couldn't help but smirk in amusement.

Mikoto came up the stairs to check up on her future daughter-in-law, and saw that she was futilely trying to get some soup into her mouth. She watched as the spoon slipped from her hands and fell into her bowl, luckily it only splashed onto the tray and not the sheets. Mikoto crossed her arms across her chest as she saw her son just sitting there smirking. Honestly, did men have no sense at all?

"Sasuke-chan, why don't you just feed her?" she asked, more like demanded in a subtle way.

"Me? But…" he protested, but was cut off.

"No buts! The poor girl is sick and all you can do is smirk! Help her out. I expect this to be finished when I get up here again. And if it isn't, be prepared for harsh treatment." She threatened_. Mothers…_Sasuke thought futilely and complied to her will.

He grabbed her spoon, and hesitantly lifted the thing up to her mouth. She looked at him, blinked once, but then shrugged and ate/ drank the soup. Sakura gave Sasuke no trouble at all and drank the soup like she was told, and once it was done she ate her medicine and lied down once more. Sasuke lifted the tray off her lap, and got up to take it to the kitchen. Before he took a step though, a hand grabbed his shirt loosely. He paused, and glanced at sakura who was looking at him, her eyes giving a grateful look.

"Sasuke-kun come here a second." She mumbled weakly. Sasuke put the tray to the side, and complied. Sakura instantly pulled him into a hug, and he had to catch himself to keep himself from falling. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear, causing his ear to tingle from the closeness. He placed a hand on her back, well aware that she was still in a daze because she had started mumbling senseless things into his ear. Sasuke pulled away, and smiled softly at her, he had just heard her say something and then fall asleep. He laid her down, pulling the sheets over her, he was compelled to leave a light kiss on her forehead. He then carried the tray down the stairs, smiling contently the whole time. Who would have thought that in the midst of her senseless babbling Sakura would manage to say_ that._ The words played over and over in his head, _"Sasuke-kun I love you."_ Sasuke smiled at her words; who would've thought it felt that great to know that someone felt that way for you. Suddenly Naruto's feelings for Hinata began to make a lot of sense to him.


	13. Chapter 13

"How much longer?"

"We still have about six hours."

"Six hours! What? That's it?" Naruto shrieked into the phone. Someone really needed to teach him how to shut up!

**"Yeah Dobe, we have six hours." Sasuke told him, trying to keep his eyes open.**

"Hell No! This is too early! I can't get it back yet; it's just too much for my poor little heart to take!" Naruto rambled on and on.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said harshly, "just go to sleep already, it's three in the morning. The result can wait! I'm sure it'll be fine." Sasuke said, trying to get him to shut up.

"Easy for you to say, Teme! No matter what, you'll always get great marks! Plus if you're so tired why don't you just fall asleep huh?" Naruto retorted.

"Why, you ask?" Sasuke said quietly, "BECAUSE YOU KEEP CALLING ME EVERY FIVE MINUTES AND KEEP WAKING ME UP! Will you please just shut up and go to sleep! The result will be fine!" with that Sasuke hung up. Resting his head on his pillow, he waited a few minutes before allowing himself to drift to sleep. The second his eyes closed, the phone rang. Snapping his eyes open, a glare in place, he harshly grabbed the phone, screaming in a "What the hell is it now Dobe? If you don't leave me alone I will stomp over to your house, and personally skin you alive!" His tone pretty much explained that he was on his last nerve.

Naruto sweat dropped in fear on the other line, not that Sasuke could see it, "I just wanted to inform you that we now have officially five hours and fifty five minutes before the dreaded result." He said, nervously, "Peace out and good night!" With that pathetic excuse of a phone call, Naruto hung up, and Sasuke finally drifted off to sleep; he was sure Naruto wouldn't call him again after that threat.

Around five thirty, the phone rang again, and Sasuke picked it up, groggily muttering a "What now?"

"So you're awake?" Naruto asked, as Sasuke would say, stupidly.

"No, I'm talking in my sleep." Sasuke replied sarcastically, rolling his drooping eyes.

"So…how much time do we have now?"

"Dobe…" and he hung up.

* * *

The next day, or rather a few hours after Sasuke had been so rudely woken up, Sasuke lethargically walked down the stairs; his face clearly showed exhaustion, there were even signs of bags under his eyes. Angrily grabbing a chair, he sat down at the table, glaring daggers at the breakfast that his mother had laid out for him. Mikoto replied to his muttered "Good morning" and noted his appearance; she wasn't surprised in the least, Naruto always did this a day before results came out.

Sakura finally appeared, and although she tried to give off her usual cheerful vibe, her nervousness was evident. She greeted the two people at the table, and took her usual seat, next to Sasuke.

When Sakura noted his tired expression, she commented without thinking, which added to Sasuke's already sour mood.

"You look terrible, didn't you sleep last night?" she said, a bit worriedly.

"Gee, thanks, that's awfully nice to know." Sasuke replied bitterly, causing Sakura to raise an irritated brow at him. She would've said something more if Mikoto hadn't stepped in.

"Naruto was calling him all night, but he'll be fine after he gets some rest." She said, waving her hand dismissively. Sakura nodded, and took a bite out of her cereal.

"Wait, then why didn't you just hook the phone?" she asked.

Sasuke just laid his head at the table, facing Sakura, "The dobe would have turned up at my window, knocking at it until I got up, and then he would've ranted rather loudly about how I should've picked up the phone." Sasuke grunted out.

Sakura looked towards Mikoto questionably, "Has this happened before?" Mikoto nodded in the affirmative, "well, it does sound a lot like what Naruto would do." Sakura mused.

"Will you two be going to get the result on your own, or should I come with you?" Mikoto asked once breakfast was over. Sasuke stopped at the door,

'No, I think it's best if we go alone. I mean, our friends will be there so we might take a while, and it'd be pointless for you to wait." He replied. Mikoto nodded in understanding and wished the both of them luck before they left the house.

* * *

During the walk to school, Sasuke remained quiet, and oddly enough so did Sakura. She figured that with Sasuke being this tired, it'd be best not to annoy him. Sasuke on the other hand was deep in thought. His thoughts were taking him back the day when Sakura was sick, what she had told him. It was annoying, to say the least, that Sasuke _still_ hadn't given an answer to her statement; heck she didn't even remember saying what she had! Still, Sasuke knew about her feelings, and he thought it best to tell her his own. However, Sasuke was terrible when it came to feelings; his talking skills needed some work too. Hence the lack of those skills wasn't helping his situation in the least! I mean, she had confessed, although unaware, to him in April, and now it was the first of July! It was official; Sasuke needed to improve his conversing skills!

Sasuke had been thinking about that a lot; he wanted to tell her, it was just he could never find the right words, plus he lacked the courage to do so too, not that he would ever admit that out loud. His lack of courage was linked with the fact that a part of his mind kept telling him that perhaps Sakura was too delusional at the time to even know what she was saying, and her confession may end up being the effect of medication. So if Sasuke were to tell her what he wanted to, she might think of him as a fool. And that was something Sasuke was not willing to become. But then there was always that 'if' factor; what if her confession was real? What if he never tells her and ends up losing her? Or what if tells her, but finds out that she never had any feelings for him and was only saying that because her mind wasn't working properly? Damnit! All of this was too confusing for him. He was actually glad once they reached the school, he didn't want to think about all these confusing things, a distraction was necessary.

The two of them made their way to the office, Sakura going in before him, where they were handed a sheet that had their result printed out on it. The smile on Sakura's face when she saw that she had gotten all A+'s was more than enough to get Sasuke into the present, as opposed to the conflicting thoughts in his mind.

Surely enough, their friends were there, waiting at their usual bench. All of them were chirping enthusiastically at their result. Naruto was the loudest though, and kept rubbing his result in everyone's faces, mocking them for ever doubting him. They sat there for a while, talking about nothing important, until Ino said something.

"Hey, you guys won't believe this but Shikamaru's going to the Konohagakure University!" Ino gloated, while Shikamaru just kept his head down in embarrassment.

"Wow! That's the best university there is in the Fire country! Congratulations!" Sakura chirped, adding to his embarrassment; Shikamaru wasn't one who enjoyed being the center of attention.

"Yeah, who knew a lazy ass like you had it in you!" Naruto added, earning a punch in the shoulder from Ino.

"It's a bit sad, but…" Hinata said after a few more congratulations were hurled at him. Naruto looked over at her, a bit concerned, "What is?"

"Well, we will be going to college, and many of us will be in different ones. So we may not get to see each other for a very long time." Hinata said, her eyes showing sadness. The rest of them also had downcast looks.

"…But we'll see each other! And besides, we still have a month before the colleges start anyway. So what do say you guys, let's make this month last!" Naruto said, after a long pause.

"Yeah!" most of the others cheered him, except the quieter ones, who just wore their best smirks for this occasion.

Sakura smiled at his enthusiasm, a sincere smile. However, her thoughts were saying something else. While it was true that they still had a month before they'd actually be heading out on their separate ways, and that they'd see each other (seeing as how they lived in the same area), but it wouldn't be the same. At least it wouldn't be the same between her and the Uchihas, between her and Sasuke. Once they'd leave for college, she'd be out of their lives for good; she'd have no real reason to impose herself on them afterwards and sure she'd see them around occasionally, but that feeling wouldn't be the same, would it? And as far as Sasuke was concerned, after a few years, he'd get married to some girl, and then she wouldn't be as important to him. That thought caused her pain, her heart clenched and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying.

Sakura got up suddenly, and lamely told everyone that she had something to do, and left. Sasuke noted her odd departure, and after a few seconds he too left, following her. Naruto, confused by the action, just had to ask "Where is he going?"

"He's taking her home." Ino replied nonchalantly.

"He is? Wow, Teme has never done anything like that before. This is definitely new!" Naruto beamed.

"Well, it only makes sense that he's dropping her home, I mean they live together so really they'd be going the same way anyway." Ino said, and then immediately clamped her mouth shut, earning a look from Tenten and Hinata. Wow, she really did have a big mouth.

Naruto took a while for the information to sink in and once his mind registered what he had just heard, his eyes turned into plates in shock. "WHAT?" he shrieked, "For ho long? When did this happen? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Ino was about to say something but Shikamaru cut her off,

"Well it wasn't that big of a secret, I mean I think everyone at this table already knew." He said lazily.

Rock Lee, trying to hide the fact that he had not known, nodded "Yes, indeed, it was obvious, no?"

Kiba, who also hadn't been aware, chose to tease Naruto in order to hide that fact, "Yeah, you're just so dense you never noticed!" he taunted.

Naruto, mouth still agape, just looked towards the gates. _Man that Teme has some explaining to do. How dare he not tell me!_

* * *

Although Naruto had said otherwise, the time had flown by rather fast. Before he knew it, it was already the twenty third, most of the month had passed already, and now he only had a month before his classes would begin. He didn't want to be away from his friends, but he knew Hinata had been right, Naruto had sent in his applications and whether or not he gets accepted into the same college as Hinata was now completely dependant upon luck. Oh how he wished he could get in the same college as her, or even Sasuke, or even Sakura; it didn't matter as long as he could be with either one of them. That way, he wouldn't be away from his best friends, and he wouldn't even worry about Hinata. Wouldn't it be great if the four of them could just end up being in the same college? He sighed, alas that was only wishful thinking…and Naruto knew that it wasn't going to bring him much. But he couldn't, wouldn't stay down forever; he was the one who'd given the others some hope, and now he himself had to live up to it, because he would never go back on his word.

Naruto decided that the best way to forget about all this would be to live in the present, and embrace all that the month could throw at him. With this newfound inspiration, Naruto decided to focus on the task at hand; Sasuke's birthday.

Naruto had thought that it would be great to give the Teme a surprise party, and working according to that theory, he had gathered up his friends at his house; but off course it wasn't all that much of a surprise anymore because it had just slipped out of his mouth a few minutes ago when he had called Sasuke. They really didn't have to do much, just handling music food and entertainment. Yep, it was going to be a piece of cake! Speaking of cake, Naruto walked into the kitchen, wondering if his mom was done baking the cake.

"Oh darn!" Kushina's voice was heard, "stupid oven! Just had to go on the fritz!" she ranted, as she pulled out the now burnt to a crisp cake. Naruto entered the kitchen at that instant and noting the cake, clucked his tongue.

"Oh darn! The cake's ruined!" he whined loudly, "But that's okay I guess, I kind of expected this to happen anyway, so I told Hinata to bake a cake too." His disappointment was changed into a smile. His mother looked at him, her expression a strange mix of happiness yet anger. She was glad that her son had a sweet girl in his life, and that for once in his life he had actually thought things through; she was angry however, at the fact that her own son doubted her baking skills so much. Although he turned out to be right in holding those opinions, but still, that gave him no right to question her culinary skills!

"You know Naruto, you shouldn't doubt my skills so much, it actually hurts." She said, crossing her arms and turning away. Naruto just smiled at her, giving her a small hug, "No, it's not your skills that I doubted. It's just that, like me you kind of have a bad relationship with the electronics in this house." Naruto said while rubbing his head. Kushina smiled, and rubbed the back of her own head; he was right.

The bell rang, and Naruto practically hopped over to the door. He opened it and greeted his girlfriend with a welcome kiss.

She blushed and greeted Naruto's mother, who smiled at the girl. Hinata had brought the cake as promised, and placed it in the kitchen. They didn't have to wait long before the rest of the people began to arrive, everything was ready, and now all that remained was Sasuke who had yet to arrive.

* * *

It was an important day for Sasuke; his eighteenth birthday entailed the ending of the curse. It was amusing, he thought, the fact that ever since the curse began, he had hated it. But now, in retrospect, he realized the curse had done a lot for him. A lot of _good_. It was due to the curse that he had officially formed a bond with Sakura. It was also the curse that led him to realizing that Sakura meant a lot more to him than a friend; sure he hadn't told her yet, but at least he knew. The 'curse' may not have been so bad for him after all…

The day had gone well for him too. To start off, Naruto had planned out a surprise party for him, although he had let that slip out so it didn't remain much of a surprise…but still it was nice of him to do something like that. The party itself was not a problem; it was just something that happened during that time. Well, Naruto had been bringing out the cake, and although Sasuke was not willing to eat it at first, he decided he would give it a try for his friend's sake. _That_ idea sure backfired on him! While Naruto was bringing out the cake, he tripped and the cake actually landed on Sasuke's face! Sure he was mad about it, but he cleaned it off as best as he could, and got his revenge when he had to see the pained faces of all those who had to eat Kushina's burnt cake instead.

When the two of them, Sakura and him, had returned home, Sasuke had gone to shower, and when he came out, he found his brother had come to pay a visit. Mikoto had decided that they should all go out for dinner, to celebrate, since it had been a while since the whole family actually got together. The dinner was good, he supposed, it was just Itachi and his mother who had been bothering him.

Before they left, the two of them had insisted on taking pictures, and in doing so, they took a whole bunch of shots with Sasuke and Sakura together, much to Sasuke's irritation. They got even worse at the restaurant; insisting that Sasuke and Sakura sit together, and feed each other. Sasuke and Sakura had managed to put it off, but eventually Mikoto gave them the 'look' and they had to comply. However, they only managed to feed each other one bite, which Sasuke actually enjoyed even if he wouldn't admit it, before Itachi and his mother had to ruin it by taking a picture. After that, they had been too embarrassed to even look each other in the eye. Fugaku hadn't been any help either; he didn't say much to Mikoto and Itachi's childish (that's what Sasuke would call it) behavior, and instead sat through it all minding his own business. Sasuke wasn't sure, but he thought his father had been taking pleasure from this nonsense.

Yes, it had been a good day, all things set aside that is…Sasuke sat in the sitting room, his brother had retired to his room a few minutes ago. Now it was just Sasuke and Sakura, sitting opposite one another, staring at the TV screen. Sasuke wasn't really paying attention to what was on anyway, he thought he had been watching some game perhaps; his mind was elsewhere.

Sasuke had noted some things throughout the day; some things that gave him some hope. He noticed Sakura's behavior when he had fed her that one bite, when they had their picture taken together…there was that smile, the smile that told him that she had liked it. Sasuke felt somehow, that her confession that day may not have been the creation of some delusion, but it may as well had been real.

Sakura stretched, and stood up. Sasuke noticed her from the corner of his eyes.

"Good night Sasuke-kun." She said as she began to walk away. Something stirred within Sasuke; perhaps it was due to the hope he had been feeling, that he stopped Sakura from leaving by calling her name. She turned, already at her door, as Sasuke made her way to her. He stopped right in front of her.

"Did you want something?" she asked.

Sasuke hesitated, before continuing, "Actually, there is something that I want."

Sasuke took a hold of her hands, gently pulling her a bit closer. Unaware of what was going on, he leaned in slowly, allowing her to move away if she chose to. But she didn't. Her face heated up, yet she leaned in too; their eyes closed when their lips made contact.

There was hesitancy on both sides at first, but then Sasuke felt Sakura's arms reach out and wrap around his neck. Her fingers entangled in his hair. Sasuke felt more confident and so wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist, pulling her closer. The kiss had deepened, neither wanted to pull apart, but their lungs had other plans.

When they did pull apart, they didn't let go of each other, staying like that, foreheads resting on each other's. They were blushing, but they didn't care at the moment, they were too caught up in each other's eyes.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, breaking the silence, "I love you."

Sasuke smiled knowingly and leaned in for another kiss, shorter this time. Once they pulled apart, he replied "I know." Although Sakura was a bit confused at his statement, she knew he had the same feelings for her, and all she could manage was a smile. At the moment, the only thing that mattered was them; the limited time they had together was the last thing on either of their minds.

Little did they know, somebody (coughcoughItachicoughcough), had captured this moment with one simple picture._ They'll thank me for this some day_

**A/n:- So? like it? Hate it? tell me, but please don't be mean. **

**Alright, i hope your happy **_Captainflye, _**cuz it finally happened. =p**


	14. Chapter 14

Five years. It had been five long years since she had seen the familiar sights of her home town, but it was all worth it in the end; she was finally going home. Home. Sakura sighed in ecstasy as she boarded the train that would finally take her back. Putting her luggage over head, and rejecting the help of some guy who was only trying to flirt with her, Sakura took her seat. Staring out the window, she longed to finally see the familiar layout of her city.

When the train started, Sakura leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes, mentally counting out the amount of time left before she'd be treading the grounds of her house. It was a four hour ride, she thought, so she would be in her city around four, and probably an half an hour later she'd be at her front door. Opening her eyes and gazing out at the window once more, vaguely picking up the scenery, Sakura fiddled with the band on her left hand.

She smiled as the fond memory relating the band around her finger played in her head. Who would have thought that all those years of dreaming, those years of relentless wishing, would one day actually pay off.

* * *

_Just two days after Sasuke and Sakura had shared their first kiss, they received their letters of acceptance from their respective colleges. Obviously, this really brought Sakura down; sure she knew that the odds of them actually going to the same place were slim, despite her wishful thinking, because they had different paths anyway. Hers was medicine, and his was business. However, the letters had Sakura more disappointed than she would have liked; Sasuke was not only going to a different college, but it was also located in a different country, the Sound country. Sakura was furious with him; who the hell told him to even _APPLY_ there? But there wasn't much that could be done about it, after al one of Sasuke's desires was to please his father, and apparently going to Sound, which had the best college for Business studies, was meeting Fugaku-sama's approval._

_Sakura spent the day wallowing in misery, in the confines of her room, all the while muttering "it's not fair!" She was upset; her and Sasuke had just gotten together, and only in two days, her whole fantasy was already reaching a very inappropriate unhappy ending. _

"Two days! Just measly two days!"_ Sakura thought furiously and now it was already coming to an end. Wait! There was still August, right? Yes, there was. Sakura's eyes gleamed with a new found determination; she'd have to make the little time she had with Sasuke as meaningful as possible._

_Discarding her previous irritation and misery, Sakura made her way to find Sasuke_, her_ Sasuke-kun for the little while that she had with him. However, she groaned in exasperation when she realized he wasn't at home, in fact only Mikoto-sama was at home. What was this boy thinking? Did he not know of the dwindling amount of time they had together? Sometimes, she wondered if boys even thought about important things such as this!_

_Sighing, she decided she'd help with the laundry; maybe doing some chores would get this frustration out of her system. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow curiously at the strange grin that Mikoto kept giving her, or the squeals and sighs that would escape from her lips after she got out of what seemed to be a daydream. Odd, Sakura thought idly._

_Sasuke was taking long strides on his way back home. He didn't like this business about having to go off to another country for a few years any more than Sakura did, but unlike her he wasn't planning to lock himself up in his room; he was determined to do something about it. Declining was not an option; his father would be most displeased with him and that was something Sasuke was not willing to risk, even Sakura understood that. No, he'd have to come up with something else, a reasonable way to solve this problem that had arisen. God! Why couldn't his life be easy for once?_

_Once Sakura had gone into her room, with, what were obviously, tears in her eyes, Sasuke, although wanting to hold her in comfort, decided against it. He wanted to consult someone intelligent, someone he trusted, about what he should do. The intelligent part left Naruto out completely, and he'd never in his life go to Itachi about his love-life; so he resorted to asking his mother. With her smile and obvious excitement, she had helped Sasuke reach the solution that was so blatantly obvious, that he had never even considered it! Immediately afterwards, he had scouted out Naruto and taking his best friend with him, he headed over to the one place he never thought he'd be entering, at least not so soon anyway. I mean technically speaking, they'd only been together for two days, and though Naruto had teased him about his rushed decision, he couldn't care less._

_Sasuke now walked home, suddenly feeling the nervousness building up in his gut with every step he took. Wait a second. How was he supposed to say this? He had never done this before! His confidence wavered as his hands fiddled with the small box in his pocket. He waited out at the front door for a while, trying to think about how to say this. His mind drew a blank, and frustrated, he banged his fist on the wall next to the door. In doing so, however, his fist made contact with the door bell. Oh no! He could already hear the footsteps coming towards the front door. Damn! He must look stupid for ringing the bell to his own house, even though he had the keys. Even worse, he wasn't ready with what he had to say! He could always hide, yeah hiding was a good option; but wouldn't he look even stupider for hiding even though he was only going into his own house? Yes, he reasoned, it would look terribly stupid, and his pride wouldn't allow him to do so. So, he stood there and waited as the door opened. Unfortunately, at the door was the very person, whom at the moment was the last person he wanted to see. Sakura._

_He expected her to glare at him, seeing as how she was angry when he had last seen her, but instead she just wrapped her arms around his torso._

"_Welcome home Sasuke-kun!" she chirped happily. Sasuke couldn't even respond properly, his nervousness was eating him; all he managed to do was wrap one arm around her waist awkwardly, and rub the back of his neck with the other, muttering an uneasy "Aa." Sakura seemed to have noted the awkward demeanor and pulled away, looking at him curiously._

"_Is something wrong?" she asked, her eyes showing her worry._

_Sasuke remained silent, slipping on his impassive façade, hoping that Sakura would be fooled into thinking everything was fine; instead Sakura glared at him momentarily, and then crossed her arms and turned away with an annoyed "Humph!" _

"_You know Sasuke-kun, I feel it very irritating that you'd leave without telling me, and now you're not even telling me what's wrong. Keeping secrets from me is getting on my nerves!" she sighed out._

_Sasuke smirked at her behavior, and without a second thought, coiled his arms around her waist, his face buried in her head. 'Oh really?" he murmured into her ear, causing her to giggle. He kissed the base of her ear and would have continued doing so further, but he became suddenly aware of his mother's presence when she whined._

"_Sasuke-chan, the anticipation is killing me! When are you going to tell her that you want to-"she started, pocking her head out from the living room; Sasuke expertly clamped his hands over Sakura's ears, trying to keep her from listening any further, much to her annoyance. He turned to Mikoto and although irritated, managed to hide it well, "I was just getting to that!" and with that he grabbed one of Sakura's hands and started pulling her up the stairs; Sakura kept asking him where they were going and why but Sasuke refused to answer her._

_Once they were upstairs, and alone, Sasuke turned to Sakura. "Sakura I…" he trailed off when he noticed something move from the corner of his eye, "Itachi! What are you doing spying on us?" Sasuke asked glaring in the general direction of Itachi's room. Itachi opened the door to his room fully, and stepped out, an annoying smirk on his face. 'Well, little brother as long as you've figured out I'm here, I won't have to hide. Good for you." He said in a pleased tone._

"_What are you even doing here?" Sasuke asked, his patience wearing thin, it was then he noticed the video camera in his hands, "And why do you have that camera?" he eyed Itachi suspiciously._

"_Hmm, that's an interesting question." Itachi said, his smirk turning into what seemed to be an innocent smile._

"_I put him up to it." Sasuke turned to face the sound of the voice; leaning against the railing of the stairs were his father and mother. His father was the one who had spoken. Sasuke straightened at seeing his father, "Tou-san, you…?" Sasuke was now not only nervous and angry, but now he was rather confused too; why would his father of all people be in on this little game of annoy-the-hell-out-of-Sasuke?_

_His father half smiled, "This is a special moment after all." He said causing his mother to stifle a squeal. Sakura who had up until now stayed silent finally got tired of it all. Addressing Sasuke, she asked, somewhat irritated, "Will someone please tell me what is going on here?"_

_Itachi smirked, 'Yes little brother won't you tell her what this is about?" he prompted, much to Sasuke's irritation._

"_Fine I will!" Sasuke said, and abruptly turned his attention away from his nosy family members. "Sakurawillyoumarryme?" he muttered so quickly that no one caught what he said._

"_Not like that Sasuke-chan! No one can understand when you say it like that1" Mikoto lectured him. Sasuke's gaze lingered on the floor, and when he finally looked at Sakura, his face began to heat up and his eye began to twitch. Why the hell was this so hard to do?_

"_I said, sakura will you marry me?" he said, just as quietly but it was still understandable. Sakura stood wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape, "we don't have to right now, I mean we could just be engaged an-"_

_Sasuke couldn't even complete his sentence before he was squeezed to death by a sobbing girl, not that he minded though. _

"_Yes! Yes!" she was saying in between her sobs, and Sasuke finally got the courage to embrace her back. He then, cleverly turned his back to his parents and brother, and kissed her._

_Behind him, his mother had already become an emotional wreck, tears streaming down her face. When Sasuke pulled away from his fiancé, she went ahead and hugged the two of them. Sakura hugged back, and smiled when even Fugaku gave her somewhat of a hug and welcomed her to the family._

_Sakura had always accepted the Uchiha home as her home, and the Uchihas as her family; but now for the first time in her life, she was pleased to say the least that even they accepted her._

* * *

She smiled at the ring around her finger; it was a silver ring with a solitaire diamond on it, very beautiful. Sakura remembered how all the girls at her college stared longingly at it; yes, Sakura had made it a point to wear it every single day to remind her of all that waited for her once she was done.

There hadn't been a day at the college where she hadn't wished that Sasuke were with her, she hadn't even seen him in these five years. Sure she had visited home sometimes, but Sasuke was never there. She'd spent the years conversing with him by mail, or by the phone, but she hadn't exactly _seen _him. As far as she knew, Sasuke had completed his studies a month ago and was working with his father.

"Would you like something to eat madam?" an attendant came by, rolling her trolley of food. Sakura gladly purchased a sandwich and some tea. She supposed it was around two thirty, only a few more hours and she'd be home.

When the train came to a halt, the passengers departed. Sakura walked out of the train station, her luggage right behind her. She looked around, trying to find him. When she spotted the raven hair, she almost ran happily towards him.

"Itachi-niisan!" She called happily, "It's so good to see you!" she hugged him.

"Ah, Sakura, it is nice to see you too." He replied, taking her luggage even though she told him not to bother. It wasn't much anyway, just a medium sized roller bag, and a shoulder bag.

Once they were in the car, Sakura finally took note of Itachi's appearance; he hadn't changed much, if anything his face looked calmer and more mature.

* * *

In about half an hour, Sakura found herself in front of the same door she had opened many times before. Although she hadn't been here for a while, it didn't seem the least bit odd. Before she even rang the bell, Mikoto had already opened the door.

Sakura bowed in respect, "Good evening Kaa-san, it's nice to see you again." She said and hugged the woman. Mikoto smiled; she had become older, Sakura noted vaguely, her hair had begun to grey, and there were distinct lines on her face. However, despite her older appearance, she looked content, which gave her this surreal lighted up face. All in all, she still had the same grace and beauty that Sakura had seen the day she had first met her.

Mikoto's face suddenly broke into a pout, "Aww, you remembered to call me Kaa-san; and here I had this whole speech ready to tell you not to call me that." Sakura gave a small laugh. She hadn't changed much either.

"Come inside Sakura-chan, come and unpack. You can put your stuff in Sasuke-chan's room. He's not home by the way." Mikoto said when she noticed Sakura's eyes light up.

"Oh."

"Anyway, you can rest if you want." Mikoto said and disappeared into the kitchen. Itachi took Sakura's bags to Sasuke's room. Sakura didn't feel like unpacking so quickly and went to join Mikoto and Itachi in the kitchen. She wasn't the least bit surprised to find Mikoto preparing to cook; she was always working.

Sakura put her hands on her hips and walked over to her "What are you doing Kaa-san? You don't have to cook while I'm here. I'll make food today." Sakura smiled.

* * *

**A/n:-**

**so what do you think? honestly i'm actually, for once, happy with how it turned out! Wel tell me what you guys think. Oh and just a small thing, there is only one more chapter left! Yay! and darn it my school starts tommorow! Yay!(SARCASM!)**


	15. Chapter 15

**a/n:-**

**Here is the final chapter, and i would love to hear what you have to say. Oh Please do read the note at the end when your done though, it's kinda important.**

* * *

She stared wide-eyed, in utter shock, unable to process the information that had been given to her. How was she supposed to believe it? How could it be? The unbelievable words played over and over in her head; "_I'm sorry…he is no longer among us…"_

When her head began to comprehend this crucial information, she screamed. Tears were streaming down her face before she knew it. It was obvious, her life was shattered, the dreams- the life she had been aiming for- they could no longer come true. How could he just leave her like this? How could he betray the promises he had made to her? How could he simply leave her like this? How could h-

Mikoto, almost on the verge of crying, switched off the television when she heard the front door open. Really, she needed to stop watching such depressing stuff; nowadays every young man in her soap operas reminded her of Sasuke, and any young woman reminded her of her soon to be daughter-in-law. Thus, any time someone would die, or have an accident or whatever, her mind would immediately drift to her precious son and his fiancé. Strange thoughts would come to her mind, what if her little Sasuke-chan…? _No! I mustn't think of these things right now; Sasuke-chan and Fugaku just came home. My son's about to get married in some time, and the family is finally together after a long time. Must think happy thoughts, must think happy thoughts…_she told herself. She then made her way to the hall way, where her son indeed was slipping off his shoes. Looking at him, she smiled, thinking of the little time that was left before he'd be getting married._ They grow up so fast…_ she sighed contently.

The first thing that Sasuke noticed when he came home that day was the distinct aroma of food wafting around. To any other person, it wouldn't strike as out of place, it'd just seem like Mikoto was making one of her delicious meals; Sasuke, however, could tell there was something different. His suspicions were materialized into conviction when he noticed the extra pair of shoes lying in the corner. Yes, something was definitely different, and Sasuke was pleased to note that the change was one that he liked very much…Sakura was back.

He greeted his mother at the door, and her knowing smile was enough to explain to Sasuke that yes, Sakura really was back.

To say he was excited to see her again was an understatement; he was absolutely thrilled! After all it had been about five years. Sure he had been home during those five years, but somehow, the Sound had this annoying tendency to give him days off when Sakura didn't have them off. So whenever he would visit home, despite how rare that was, he'd always find out that either Sakura had already came and left, or she was due to come in a few weeks. All in all it meant that they never really got to see each other, and the only conversations they managed to have, had been over the phone, or by mail. In fact, it was actually in one of the mails that Sasuke had found out that Sakura had finished her theoretical studies about three months ago, but she had to stay because, thanks to her mentor, the infamous medic Tsunade, she had gotten to work shifts at the hospital to increase her experience. She had become a great doctor, that much he knew; after all, the world renowned medic herself had chosen Sakura as her apprentice.

Leaning against the door frame of the kitchen, Sasuke observed the pink haired girl, _no woman,_ he corrected himself, in front of him. She had grown, that was for sure; it was evident even though she had her back to him. Her hair was shorter, shoulder length to be exact. Sasuke observed her in an amused manner; she was completely focused on the task at hand, completely unaware of his presence. She was humming a tune quietly to herself, and Sasuke could picture the smile gracing her face as she stirred the mixture in the pot.

She seemed to fit in so perfectly. Although she had been absent from the household for a number of years, she still seemed to know exactly what she was doing; she knew where every dish, every ingredient was located, as if she had lived there the whole time. Watching her manoeuvre about in the kitchen, Sasuke realized how much he really had missed her, and how much he wanted to see her face!

Soundlessly strolling over behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, his head burying itself in the side of her neck, and whispered "Welcome back."

Sakura had been so surprised by the sudden gesture that she had actually jerked forward for a second, causing the spoon in her hands to fall in the pot, with a splash. Once she realized what was going on, she abruptly turned in his arms, facing him, a scowl in place.

"Don't you know that you shouldn't sneak up on a person when they're making something? You could have gotten burned!" she reprimanded. When all he did was give a small smile, she wrapped her own arms around his neck.

Sasuke, his face now buried in her hair, murmured "You know, I didn't think it was possible but, you're even more beautiful than I remember. What ever happened to the big fore- headed girl, with the amazing green eyes?" he teased, and sakura could actually feel him smirk into her hair.

"The same thing that happened to the arrogant boy whom I remember," she said teasingly, moving her head away so that she could look at his face. "She grew up." She smiled.

Sasuke just looked down at her face, and leaned in. The two of them shared a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart, rather reluctantly on both parts, Sakura slid her arms so that they were now resting on his chest, her face buried in the hollow base of his neck. Sasuke's head rested on top of Sakura's head, his face tilted a bit to the left. They were focused only on each other, like they were covered by some sort of invisible bubble, his arms wrapped around her waist, as they swayed slightly in a fluid rhythmic movement.

"I really missed you." She said into his chest, his eyes softened as he moved one hand to Sakura's hair, running his fingers through her soft pink locks. "Aa." He said, nuzzling his cheek in her hair.

"Is that all you can say after five years?" Sakura said, her voice held this bitterness. Sasuke noted vaguely that she still had the same temperamental nature; what had he been saying about her changing? Smirking teasingly, he replied "Aa." He almost laughed when Sakura gruffly pulled away from him in irritation, and turned to the side, her arms crossed over her chest. Sasuke smiled and pulled her into another hug, "Fine, I missed you too. Happy?" Sakura smiled, as he captured her in another kiss.

Mikoto smiled happily as she witnessed the interaction between her son and her soon to be daughter-in-law. Sasuke had noted his mother's presence a while ago, but made no move to acknowledge it; his only priority right now was the woman in his arms, _his _precious Sakura. It had been five years after all, and he wasn't willing to allow anything, not even his parents' and brother's boring eyes, come between him and her. Sasuke's grip around Sakura's waist tightened as he rested his forehead on top of hers. They stared into each other's eyes, completely mesmerized, as if nothing in the world could tear them apart; that is until, Sakura tore herself away from Sasuke. Sasuke caught a frantic look in her eyes before she jerked herself away from him, exclaiming an "Oh! The food!" She then rushed to the stove, hastily preventing the food from burning. Sasuke just glared at the pot which held Sakura's attention; if he hadn't inherited the Uchiha's natural ability to maintain a calm exterior, he would have beaten the pot into a dented heap already. However, he was an Uchiha, and as a consequence of that, he maintained his cool, and resorted to just leaning against a wall and listening to Sakura hum in the voice he had missed hearing.

* * *

Sakura hadn't even been there a week before the long and exhaustive task of planning her own wedding was hurled at her. Off course, Mikoto and Ino, Hinata and Tenten had more than willingly helped, but despite that, the task had proven itself to be tedious. They had spent two weeks getting everything finalized, and it was a relief when the work had finally finished. I mean, they had practically gone through EVERY clothing store in the city just to finalize the outfits; choosing the clothes would have been easier if it hadn't been for the fact that Ino and Tenten started squabbling over their differences in taste, and owing to that fact, reaching a unanimous decision was made ten times more difficult!

When, _finally_, the clothes were decided upon, there were still the invitations, the venue, the music, the cake and whatnot! It was just a little bit harder because Sasuke had left everything up to Sakura, saying that he was satisfied with whatever Sakura decided. So Sakura had to go through various decoration samples, cake flavors, locations and God knows what else before everything was finally dealt with. She was glad to get a breather after two weeks straight of all this planning.

It hadn't been all bad, she supposed, I mean it was exciting if not anything else. The only part that bothered her was the fact that she barely got to see Sasuke in those two weeks. He'd leave early in the morning for work, coming home near dinner time, and after that both of them were so dead tired that they would just fall asleep, well aware of the fact that they had a lot of work ahead of them.

So it was no surprise that Sakura practically _jumped_ at the opportunity to take a walk with Sasuke when the opportunity made itself appear. Walking down the slightly busy streets, her fingers intertwined in Sasuke's, her head slightly leaning on Sasuke's broad shoulders; Sakura had never felt so at peace and content. It was as if the two weeks suddenly melted away and it was just the two of them once more. It happened to her more and more often, Sakura closed her eyes in contentment, the more she was with Sasuke, the lesser everything else seemed to matter; he was everything to her, and she hoped that she was his everything too.

Sakura opened her eyes when she felt something stroking her cheek. It was Sasuke, he was smiling down at her.

"You shouldn't close your eyes while your walking, you could fall and hurt yourself." He told her, and sakura could hear the concern in his voice even though he didn't voice it.

"I won't fall." She replied, "You wouldn't let me." She added, smiling ass she lifted her head from his shoulder. Sakura could swear she saw disappointment on Sasuke's face for a second there.

"Why did you lift your head? I liked it there." Sasuke said, looking straight ahead. Sakura giggled, she knew he wasn't too comfortable when he talked about feelings. Sakura was about to place her head back on his shoulder, when she felt something bump into her, and she jerked forward, her fingers slipping out of Sasuke's hand. She fell onto the cobblestone street with a thud, her back ached and she let out a groan, wincing in pain. Worse still, the person who had bumped into her was on top of her. Before Sakura could even yell at the idiot for being so careless, or before he could even apologize, Sakura felt him get off her. Actually, it was more like he was yanked off her by the back of his collar, by a very angry looking Sasuke.

The guy, who was probably nineteen years old, was shoved into a wall, Sasuke still holding on to his collar, seethed with anger.

"Hey you! You should be more careful!" Sasuke scolded him, giving him the Uchiha glare. The boy cowered in fear, "I'm sorry! I-I wasn't seeing where I was goin-" he stammered out.

"Damn right you weren't!" Sasuke growled back. Sakura was worried that Sasuke might just strike the poor boy, and although she had wanted to yell at him a second age, she felt sympathy for him; anyone who was on the receiving end of the infamous Uchiha glare, was definitely worth sympathizing with.

Sakura put her hand on Sasuke's back, causing him to turn to her. "Sasuke- kun let him go. The poor guy apologized." Sakura said her tone sympathetic towards the boy. Sasuke loosened his grip on the boy's collar, and gave him one last menacing glare before completely letting him go. "Be more careful." Sakura advised him.

"I'm sorry once again," the boy bowed and dashed away.

"Why did you do that? The poor guy looked traumatized." Sakura turned her attention to Sasuke, who now had his hands stuffed in his pockets, his face still displaying some irritation. Sasuke looked at her, slightly irritated.

"Sakura, that idiot hurt you, and I can't just stand by and watch when someone hurts you right in front of my eyes," Sasuke said, looking at the ground. Sakura was moved; maybe she really was as important to him as he was to her, perhaps even to the point of being his everything. Sasuke then turned to look at Sakura, his eyes showing that he was still a bit peeved, 'And why did you have to sympathize with him? He needs to be more careful, and learn not to bump into other people's fiancés" Sasuke told her.

"Hey, it was an accident, and you completely over reacted!" Sakura reprimanded, hands on her hips.

"Hn. Whatever. Remind me next time to never stand up for you ever again." Sasuke muttered, turning his attention back to the floor. He lifted his head in mild shock when he felt a familiar pressure on his cheek; the oh so familiar feeling of Sakura's soft lips on his cheek made him forget everything and enter a world of pure bliss.

When Sakura pulled away, smile on her face and thanked him for worrying about her, he couldn't keep that damn blush from rising to his cheeks. And her smile, what he wouldn't do just to see that beautiful smile on her face. _Stupid emotions!_ Sasuke cursed; it still amazed him that her little gestures still had so much affect on him, but then again, she was his everything wasn't she?

Fighting off the color that had momentarily risen to his cheeks, and coming out of his fazed state, he took his hands out of his pockets and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her close. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Should we go home?" Sakura asked, her eyes drooping. Sasuke noticed that she was starting to get tired, and kissed her forehead. "Only if you want to, _darling." _He added pointedly; now it was his turn to smirk in satisfaction when Sakura's face tinted red.

* * *

Sakura stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"You look great!" Ino said excitedly as she fixed Sakura's obi sash. Hinata and Tenten silently nodded in agreement.

"There, you're ready. Just come out in about ten minutes." Ino advised her.

Sakura vaguely nodded, her attention was drawn by her own reflection. When the three girls left her in her dressing room, she didn't even notice. She smiled at her reflection, nervously running a hand through her hair. It was finally the day; her wedding day. There she stood, about ten minutes away from finally marrying her beloved Sasuke, but somehow; she felt this emptiness within her.

Sakura knew what was missing, but she didn't want to think about it just now. It was her parents; they were missing. Sakura was beginning to realize that she would never have that heart felt talk with her mother where she would tell her how much she would miss her, and how much she loved her. She would never get to see the face of her father standing there proudly, but with the crestfallen look in his eyes still prominent. She wouldn't get to have that final family moment that was supposed to be a part of this day.

Sakura's smile turned into a frown; she really should not have thought about all this. There was a knock on the door behind her, and with a lethargic flicker of her eyes, she looked at the door through the mirror.

"Yes?" she said, trying to suppress her sadness as much as possible.

The door opened revealing a very happy looking Mikoto and Fugaku. The pride in their eyes was evident, and the smiles that had made their place permanently on their faces was proof of just how delighted they were.

"Sakura-chan, I just wanted to tell you how happy we are." Mikoto came up to her side, "We know what you must be feeling right now, I'm sure you miss your parents right now, but I just wanted to tell you that, even if they aren't with you, we are." She gestured to herself and Fugaku who was standing right behind Mikoto. "We will be the parents that you've lost, and we'll be here for you. I'm sure your parents must have been very proud of the wonderful young woman you have become. They'd truly be happy, just as we are." She said, smiling at the girl who was now on the verge of tears.

"In fact, we are proud to have you in our family." Fugaku added, and for the first time in her life, Sakura saw his expression soften, and a true smile appear on his face. It was heart warming, everything that they had said. Although it may have been true that Sakura would never meet her parents again, she was content with having Sasuke's parents by her side. She could almost see the face of her mother smiling brightly, yet the hints of tears in her eyes, in Uchiha Mikoto. She could even make out the face of her father in Uchiha Fugaku's softened features, the way he would proudly tell his little girl that she had become a wonderful young lady. Here within these two people who had already gained her love and respect, Sakura could see glimpses of her parents. She realized that even though _they _might not be here with her , Mikoto and Fugaku would make up for that emptiness; her parents would always be with her through them, their prayers and blessings too. She wanted to preserve the smiles of the two people standing in front of her, and she would do all that she could to make them happy.

"You have our blessings." Mikoto and Fugaku said simultaneously, and Sakura swore she saw reflections of her parents in them.

"Thank you," she whispered and hugged the two of them, and they embraced her back.

"Now let's go before Sasuke-chan gets impatient." Mikoto said, a teasing smile on her face. Sakura swore to herself that she would make sure she'd never let that smile die out.

So Sakura took the first step down the aisle, looking at the beaming faces of her friends from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes were focused forward, where Sasuke stood, a smirk in place but Sakura knew he was nervous as hell. In that aisle lined with Cherry Blossom trees, a pond somewhere in the background, Sakura took her first step; her first step not only towards Sasuke, but a step towards the dreams that she had dreamed. A step towards the new life she had promised herself a long time ago. The first step to the transition from Haruno Sakura to Uchiha Sakura.

* * *

It had only been one day after their wedding, and already Sasuke was being pestered by his mother and his brother. What about? Well, let's just say it was something that Sasuke did not wish to speak about. Oh, yes, the dreaded talk of … grandchildren…

"Sasuke-chan! I have to talk with you!" Oh no! She was at it again! Darn, just when he thought he'd lost her. How could she not get distracted by one of her soap operas any more? Was this unnecessary talk really more important to her? Sasuke almost ran for it when he saw his mother come in the living room, in fact he actually did run for it. But unfortunately, Itachi blocked his only escape route.

"Listen Sasuke-chan, this is important!" Mikoto exclaimed, "I want to be a grandma very soon. Oh I can see it now, the little Sasukes and Sakuras running around! And I'll be the perfect grandma too! I'll give them everything they want and spoil them and teach them. Oh I can't wait!" Mikoto said clasping her hands together.

"And I want to be an uncle and tell them stories about their daddy when he was small." Itachi added.

Oh why oh why did Sasuke ever agree to marry Sakura? This was way too much! Maybe he shouldn't have married her…What made him do it anyway?

"I'm home." The voice of said girl echoed in the hallway as she made her way to the living room, hugging her mother-in-law and brother-in-law. She then turned to Sasuke, wrapping her arms around his neck, and he automatically wrapped his around Sakura's waist, kissing him in greeting. When they pulled apart, they rested their foreheads on top of each other's, lost in each other's eyes.

Why did he marry her? Oh right. He married her because in the little moments like these, when the two of them were simply in each other's presence, Sasuke felt like the happiest guy in the whole world. That was why.

* * *

**Alright, so what'd you think?**

**anyway, i had to say that since my school started nad this is an important year and all, i may not be posting any new stories. I might write some, but i won't post them cuz i have a few ideas but thy're multi chapter ones so i don't want to have you all suffer with irregular updates. I might post some one shots though.**

**BUT, i will be checking my mail regularly, so feel free to pm me. ^-^**

**I guess that's about it. and so ends my first venture of story writing...**


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